Zega Rangers
by Beckyhelene
Summary: My attempt at a new power rangers series, wrote it a while ago, lol.
1. Episode 1 The Team

Hey all. This is something I started writing a long time ago, my attempt at a power ranger series, lol. Anyway, here's the first "episode"  
  
Name: Zega Rangers  
  
Episode: The Team  
  
Summary: Years have passed since the original rangers left their ranger  
  
responsibilities. They've all gone their separate ways. A new evil has come  
  
to earth, and Alda, Zordon's sister, comes to earth to find a group of new  
  
rangers.  
  
Characters:  
  
Kimberly Hart-Now 28 years old. After dropping out of the Pan Global. Kimberly was in San Diego for a while, but she had to leave when she received a call from the lawyer of her 33-year-old sister, Karen, who had left Angel Grove when Kimberly was 12 years old. Karen and her husband, Rick, were in a car accident; they both were died, leaving Kimberly as the legal guardian of their daughter, Carla-Jane.  
  
Thomas Oliver-Now 29 years old. After giving away the ranger powers, he moved to New York with Kat. They where together for a year, then they broke up. Kat had fallen for someone new and moved back to Australia where she and her new guy got married.  
  
Trini Kwan-Now 28 years old. After staying in Switzerland for a while, she  
  
moved place to place, not really knowing why, she just wasn't satisfied with  
  
wherever she went. Then she finally went back to Angel Grove, where she  
  
works in a bookstore.  
  
William Cranston-Now 29 years old. After staying on Aquitar for three years,  
  
he came back to earth, he began to miss earth. He came back to Angel Grove,  
  
where he now has a job in Angel Groove High, he teaches Science.  
  
Carla-Jane Martinez-16 years old. Goes by CJ. Her parents, Karen and Rick  
  
died in a car crash. She's always been a bit of an outsider, but since her  
  
parent's deaths, she's more rebellious. She has just recently moved to Angel  
  
Groove with her aunt, Kimberly. She's into heavy music and rock and roll.   
  
She loves writing and she used to sing. She also loves kickboxing.  
  
Kendra Washington-16 years old. Is a good student. She's sort of popular.   
  
She hangs out with her circle of friends. Her best friends, Quinn and Brad,  
  
her boyfriend, Keith, and her brother, Tyrell. She loves to do gymnastics.  
  
Tyrell Washington-16 years old. He's a good student. He is a bit of a heartthrob and womanizer. His sister, Kendra, sort of bugs him about it. He's  
  
been friends with Quinn, Brad and Keith since they all were kids. He really  
  
loves to dance.  
  
Quinn Ling-16 years old. She is a good student. She likes to bug Tyrell  
  
about his womanizing traits. She has a really calm personality and is really  
  
into tai chi and meditation.  
  
Keith Chasings-16 years old. An ok student. He has trouble in classes here  
  
and there, but Kendra, who's a pretty good student, helps him out, and so do  
  
the others. He's into martial arts.  
  
Brad Kensington-16 years old. He's really cute and all, but sort of shy, and  
  
kind of out of it when it comes to girls. By being friends with Kendra and  
  
Quinn he's viewed girls as just friends and nothing else. He can't get how  
  
Kendra and Keith can be so in to each other after being friends for so long.   
  
He's really into martial arts.  
  
Valerie Henderson-16 years old. She's really really popular and sort of mean  
  
to Brad, Keith, Quinn, Tyrell and Kendra. She's class president.  
  
Alda of Eltar-Sister of Zordon, she has recently come to earth after sensing  
  
a great disturbance in the dimensions.  
  
Raffie 9-He is Alda's android assistant.  
  
Empress Grasta-She ruled the Andoli dimensions and has now come to earth  
  
after she heard of Rita, and all of their failed attempts at concoquring it,  
  
she's confident she'll be successful where they failed.  
  
Quor, Moldara-Grasta's warriors. (Think Goldar and Scorpina of the original  
  
series.)  
  
Lonf-Grasta's henchman. (He's basically like Finster)  
  
Zimoids-(Think putties, tengas, puranas, etc. etc.)  
  
*More might be added later*  
  
On with the story. :)  
  
Kimberly Hart woke up and looked at her room. They're where boxes still piled  
  
up against the wall. She sighed and got out of the sleeping bag she had.   
  
The beds hadn't arrived yet. She yawned as she put her purple bathrobe over  
  
her pjs.   
  
CJ laid sleeping in her sleeping bag. Her shoulder length blue  
  
streaked hair fell in her face. She jumped when her alarm clock went off.   
  
She opened her eyes to see it inches from her head. Funny, she thought  
  
venomously, I don't remember putting it there.   
  
"Carla-Jane, get up now." She heard her aunt Kimberly yell from downstairs. She groaned and got up. She began to trudge to the bathroom in her white  
  
t-shirt and blue boxer shorts. Kimberly stood on the kitchen counter, frying eggs. "Carla-" She called.  
  
"I'm up. And It's CJ." She snapped back. Kimberly sighed. She heard  
  
something thud. CJ yelped in pain. "OW! DAMNIT!" She screamed.  
  
"What's wrong?" Kimberly yelled.  
  
"Some box out here. Must have rocks or something." She growled.  
  
  
  
A little while later CJ pounced down the stairs.  
  
"K, grab a pla-" Kimberly turned to face CJ. "AH!" She screamed.  
  
"What's your problem?" CJ asked in a cold tone. She grabbed her blue denim backpack and set it on the kitchen table.  
  
"Is that....." Kimberly began as she grabbed CJ's shoulder and spun her around to face her. "Please tell me that's fake." CJ rolled her eyes and swatted her hand away. Kimberly narrowed her eyes at her niece. "Carla-"   
  
"Chill." CJ pulled on the small blue stud on her nose. "It's magnetic."   
  
Kimberly let out a swoosh of air. CJ chuckled and put the magnetic nosering back on her nose.  
  
"You almost gave me a heart attack." Kimberly said.  
  
"Ah, wouldn't that be a record? Losing parents and legal guardian in all in  
  
one month." She said sarcastically. She grabbed her bag. "I'm out. Can't be  
  
late on the first day of school." Kimberly looked at her.  
  
"Take that thing out of your nose." She said. CJ sighed and did as she was told. She left the house. Kimberly sighed and sat down in the kitchen. "What am I going to do with you, Carla?" She asked, as if the air would give her some great answer.  
  
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Quinn Ling sat on the front steps of Angel Groove High School. She  
  
sat waiting for one of her friends to show up. Kendra was in the Youth  
  
Center doing some early beam work. She sighed.  
  
"Hello Quinn." Came a voice. Quinn looked up to see her science teacher coming over. She gave a polite smile in greeting.  
  
"Good Morning Mr. Cranston." She said. "How are you doing today?"  
  
"Very well, and yourself?"  
  
"Not bad."  
  
"That's good to hear. Well, see you in class." He went into the school  
  
building.  
  
Tyrell Washington walked over; he was wearing jeans and a black t-shirt.   
  
"Well hello Quinn." He said as he walked over. A girl in a mini skirt and  
  
tank top passed by him and smiled flirtaously.   
  
"Hey Ty." She purred.  
  
"Hey Tiffany, how ya doing?" He said. He leaned against a tree with his  
  
arms folded over his chest.   
  
"Great. Well, I got to go."  
  
"See ya." He said. Tiffany began to walk away.   
  
"Call me." She smiled to him over her shoulder. Tyrell stood up and Quinn rolled her eyes at Tyrell, Kendra's twin brother.   
  
"What?" Tyrell asked, catching Quinn's look.  
  
"Nothing." She smiled. "What is this, 4th girl of the week?" She joked as  
  
she stood up.  
  
"Ha ha, very funny. I bet you wish you were her." He grinned. Quinn shoved him.  
  
"In your dreams." She smirked. Tyrell put his arm around her waist, right  
  
above the belt hoops of her yellow jeans.  
  
"Aw, come on baby, don't be so cruel." He joked. Quinn rolled her eyes and turned to walk in the building, pushing his arm away.   
  
"Nah, if I was cruel, you'd have a flag pole shoved up your-" She said with  
  
mock sweetness.  
  
"OK! That's enough of that." Tyrell chuckled. Quinn laughed as they made their way to the entrance. Keith and Brad walked up. Keith wore jeans and a white t-shirt. Brad wore jeans and a red t-shirt.  
  
"Hey." Brad said.  
  
"Brad, Keith, my boys." Tyrell said, they all gave each other high fives.   
  
Brad and Keith give high fives as well.  
  
"So, where's Kendra?" Keith asked.  
  
"She's at the new youth center trying out the beam." Quinn said.  
  
"Oh. Right. My mom said that the guy who owns the new one actually owned the one that they tore down, but he had to sell it and all." Brad said.  
  
"Yeah, why did they tear it down?" Quinn asked.  
  
"I heard the foundation was bad." Tyrell said.   
  
"Hey guys." Kendra Washington walked over to her friends. She wore jeans and a pink tank top. Keith smiled.  
  
"Hey." He put his arm around her waist. Kendra smiled and kissed him on the lips.  
  
"AW, come on!" "PDA much?" "Dude, come on, that's my sister!" Brad, Quinn  
  
and Tyrell groaned jokingly, shielding their eyes from the sight. Kendra and  
  
Keith rolled their eyes.   
  
"Very mature guys." Kendra said sarcastically.  
  
"Hey, we're sophmores, who said we're supposed to be mature?" Quinn joked. Kendra laughed. The bell rang. "Ah, classage." Quinn said. She linked  
  
arms Kendra. "Come on Kendra, to English we go." The two girls left. Brad  
  
nodded to his friends.   
  
"Well, I'm off to Science, see ya." He left. Keith, and Tyrell said bye in  
  
unison and walked off to History. ())))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))) ))))))))))))))))))))))((((((((((  
  
CJ walked into the office of the school.   
  
"Carla-Jane Martinez?" Came a voice. She spun around to see a middle aged woman in a gray skirt suit.   
  
"CJ." She corrected.   
  
"Yes, well, I'm your new principal, Ms. Canlion. I spoke to your aunt on the phone." Ms. Canlion said. She looked at the girl. She wore black combat  
  
boots, faded blue jeans with holes here and there. They looked like they had  
  
been through World War 1 and 2. She wore a long sleeve blue sweater that  
  
barred her midriff, which she wore under a jean jacket. She had brown  
  
shoulder length hair with electric blue streaks running trough it. "Well,  
  
let's get you registered and settled in." She said.  
  
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Kimberly walked around Angel Grove. It had changed so much. She  
  
sighed. She longed to see a familiar face. Ernie. She thought. She walked  
  
to the Youth Center. She could see Ernie. She stopped when she saw the  
  
center. It wasn't there. There was a small clothing store, Zandige. What a  
  
weird name for a store, she thought. She sighed.  
  
"Great, I'm lost in my own home town." She said bitterly.  
  
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It was the third period of the day. William Cranston sat in the library. He was the teacher asked to watch over study hall. He sighed. There was a knock on the door.  
  
"Yes?" He said. The door opened and in came Ms. Canlion and a girl.  
  
"Mr. Cranston." Ms. Canlion said in greeting. The students had stopped  
  
doing whatever it was they were doing and stared at the girl. Valerie  
  
Henderson sat with her little clique of Valerie-wannabes. She softly  
  
snickered at the girl.   
  
"Attention K-mart shoppers, Freak Skank in aisle four." She joked softly.   
  
Her friends giggled.  
  
"Students, this is your newest classmate, Carla-Jane Martinez." Ms. Canlion  
  
said.   
  
"Well, nice to meet you Carla-Jane. Would you care to tell us about  
  
yourself?" Mr. Cranston asked. CJ looked at him.   
  
"No, not really." She said coldly. Mr. Cranston stood back. The students  
  
looked at her in awe. Brad, Tyrell, Keith, Kendra and Quinn stared at the  
  
new arrival.   
  
"Well, that's all, please continue your studying, students." Ms. Canlion said as she walked out of the room. Mr. Cranston looked at CJ.  
  
"Uhm, just, take a seat anywhere." He said as he sat back down. CJ looked at the other students, who were still staring at her.   
  
She glared at them.   
  
"Keep staring and you'll be a resident of Angel Grove Hospital so fast your  
  
head'll spin." She said rudely. She took a seat at an empty table.  
  
"What's her deal?" Kendra whispered.   
  
"Maybe she's feeling lonely." Quinn shrugged. She looked at CJ. She was sitting by herself, writing. "Should I ask if she wants to come sit with  
  
us?"   
  
"Sure, why not." Brad said. Quinn stood up.   
  
CJ was busy writing in her notebook. She looked up to see an Asian  
  
looking girl in yellow jeans and a tight white t-shirt with some stupid  
  
yellow design across the chest.   
  
"Hi." She said.   
  
"Whatever." She rolled her eyes. Quinn looked at her.  
  
"So, your name's Carla-Jane, that's a nice name." Quinn said.  
  
"My friends call me CJ." She said.   
  
"Oh, well, CJ, I'm Quinn." She stuck her hand out. CJ smirked and looked at her.  
  
"What makes you assume we're friends?" Quinn looked down.  
  
"Sorry, I just, uhm, well, hey, you want to come sit with me and my friends?"  
  
  
  
"Not particularly."   
  
"Oh...Well, uh.....OK. See ya." Quinn walked away. She sat back down at  
  
her table.  
  
"Well?" Tyrell asked.  
  
"She's really shy." Quinn said.  
  
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Empress Grasta sat on her throne. She sighed as she blew on her  
  
freshly painted blood red nails.   
  
"Your highness." Came a voice. She looked up to see Quor, her trusted  
  
general, kneeling in front of her.   
  
"Yes Quor, any news?" She asked. Quor stood up.  
  
"Yes, Lonf has just finished a batch of fifty Zimoids."  
  
"Excellent." She smiled wickedly. "Soon, this pitiful Earth will be mine."  
  
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Kimberly saw a small building that looked a bit like the old Youth Center. The  
  
sign outside read THE ANGEL GROVE GROOVE. And a banner that  
  
read GRAND OPENING. She shrugged.   
  
"Well, might as well check it out." She walked through the doors. The place was empty. "Hello?" She called out. She looked around and was hit by pouts of nostalgia. It looked so much like the old Youth Center it was slightly  
  
frightening. She looked over to a big area that had the floor completely  
  
covered in a red mat. It had weights, benches for bench pressing and a  
  
balance beam.   
  
"Excuse me?" Came an all to familiar voice. No, it can't be, can it? She  
  
turned to the counter and gasped at what she saw. There, standing behind it,  
  
was Ernie. "Kim?" He asked.   
  
"Ernie?"  
  
"Oh my god. How are you?" Ernie came around the counter and hugged her.   
  
"I'm good." She smiled. "God, how long's it been?"  
  
"Almost ten years. God, how were the Pan Global?" He asked. Kimberly sighed.  
  
"It could've been better. Two years into it I quit."  
  
"Oh. So, are you here to visit?"   
  
"No, actually, I just moved back to Angel Grove yesterday."  
  
"Really? That's great! Angel Grove just wasn't the same with out Kimberly Hart here." Kimberly smiled.   
  
"Thanks Ernie. So, what happened to the old Youth Center?"  
  
"Oh, I moved to Texas, and so I sold the center, and I come back a few years later, and the place is falling apart. Literally."   
  
"Oh. So, you opened this place?"  
  
"Yeah. I got it constructed to look like the old one."  
  
"Yeah, I noticed. I walked in here and felt like I just walked into the  
  
Twilight Zone." They laughed together. "So, you had any business yet?"  
  
"Well, a little earlier I had a girl named Kendra in here. She said she  
  
wanted to try out the balance beam. She reminded me of you. Really into  
  
gymnastics. I didn't really think I'd get much business now, kids doing  
  
that crazy thing called school." He smiled. Kimberly smiled back. "So,  
  
what are you up to now?"  
  
"Right now I'm looking for a job actually." Kimberly responded. "No luck so far."  
  
"Well, hey, maybe you can work here." He suggested.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Well, I can't run this place on my own, and you can teach some kids  
  
gymnastics sometimes."  
  
"You seriously want me to work for you?" Kimberly asked.  
  
"Yeah."   
  
"Well, OK." Kimberly accepted. She smiled.   
  
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CJ walked along the streets of Angel Grove. As soon as she had gotten  
  
out of school, she went home and dropped her stuff off. Aunt Kimberly was nowhere to be seen, not that CJ was looking for her. She had seen a flier  
  
outside of school about some guy opening a Karate school. She thought she'd  
  
check it out since she yet had seen anything involving kickboxing. She had  
  
changed into her usual workout cloths, which consisted of black sweat pants,  
  
a blue sports bra, and a black zipper down sweatshirt. She put her short  
  
hair in two small braids, with a wisp of blue falling in her face. She then  
  
tied a blue bandanna on the top of her head.  
  
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"I really appreciate you two helping me out." Thomas Oliver said to  
  
the two young guys in his dojo. He had met them a day before, when they  
  
asked to sign up for classes. Contrary to the flyers, they were the only  
  
ones there. Brad Kensington and Keith Chasings had insisted on helping him  
  
with setting the place up.   
  
"It's no problem Mr. Oliver." Brad said as he and Keith hefted a punching  
  
bag up and fastened it to the chain hanging from the ceiling.  
  
"Yeah. It's just amazing no one else signed up." Keith added.  
  
"Well, I just opened my doors yesterday. And by the way, call me Tommy. Mr. Oliver makes me sound like my father." He chuckled.   
  
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Trini Kwan pushed the book cart in Little Shop Of Covers, the quaint  
  
little bookstore she worked in. She picked up a book and carefully placed  
  
it in its correct place in the bookshelf. She pushed the cart along and  
  
picked up a book that was on the floor. She sighed.  
  
"What's so difficult about putting a book where you found it?" She was  
  
tired. She looked up to see where it belonged. She realized the shelf was  
  
too high for her to reach. She stepped on the lowest shelf and hoisted  
  
herself up, still couldn't reach. She stepped on to the shelf above it. She  
  
held the book in one hand, and the other held on to the edge of a shelf. She  
  
stood on her toes to put the book back. She barely got it in, when she  
  
started to loose her grip. "Whoa....Whoa!" She began to fall.  
  
"Whoa, got you Miss." Came a voice as she felt arms catch her.  
  
William Cranston held the woman. Her long black hair was in her face.  
  
But, something about her seemed hauntingly familiar.   
  
"Oh my god, Trini I heard you screaming are you OK?" Came a lanky looking boy. Trini? William thought. The woman got out of his arms and looked at the boy.   
  
"Yeah, Greg, I'm OK, thanks to this man." The woman turned to face him, she  
  
gasped, and so did he.   
  
"Oh, OK, well, I'll go back to the register." Greg walked away. The two  
  
people stared at each other.  
  
"Trini?" William looked at her.  
  
"Billy?" She responded.  
  
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Tyrell and Quinn sat together in Angel Grove Groove. Kendra was busy  
  
on the mats working out. Tyrell looked over at Quinn. Her long, raven hair,  
  
which had been cascading down her shoulders at school, was now in a high  
  
ponytail, which showed off her neck. He couldn't help stare at it. Whoa, he  
  
thought, your looking at her as if you like her. Which you don't. Quinn's  
  
just your friend.......Friend.  
  
Kendra mounted the balance beam. She stood up slowly and began the  
  
small routine she had made up. She dipped her leg and need a smart about  
  
turn. She lost her balance. She bent down and gripped the beam to keep from  
  
falling.   
  
"Ugh, I never get that part right." She sighed.  
  
"You should try doing something else between the dip and the turn." Came a voice. Kendra turned to see a woman in a purple t-shirt and jeans. She wore an apron with the words ANGEL GROVE GROOVE printed on it in stylish letters. She had long brown hair that was in a ponytail. "Sorry, didn't mean to  
  
startle you or anything."  
  
"No, it's OK." Kendra hopped off the beam.   
  
"Oh, well, I'm Kimberly, Kimberly Hart." The woman stuck her hand out.   
  
Kendra took it and shook it.   
  
"I'm Kendra Washington."  
  
"Oh. Ernie told me you we're here this morning."  
  
"Yeah. Just wanted to get acquainted with the equipment, as strange as that sounds." Kimberly smiled.  
  
"No, I know what you mean."  
  
"So, are you into gymnastics?"  
  
"Yeah, I didn't spend two years in the Pan Global because of the nice  
  
hours." Kimberly smirked.  
  
"You were in the Pan Global?!" Kendra gazed at her with admiration.   
  
"That's so amazing! I'd love to be in them, but, well, gymnastics aren't my  
  
life, and I couldn't bare to move out of Angel Grove."  
  
"Yeah. I know what you mean."  
  
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CJ walked to the building. It was a small place with the word's  
  
OLIVER DOJO etched on the glass doors. She pulled it open and walked in.   
  
The walls were bare and there were some boxes on the floor, which was covered  
  
in a black floor mat.  
  
"Hello?" She called out. The place was empty. She removed her sneakers and  
  
walked on the mat. She walked over to the punching bag hanging from the  
  
ceiling. She saw gloves on the floor, right beside it and put them on.  
  
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Trini couldn't believe her eyes. Billy Cranston was standing before her. No longer was he the shy boy in overalls and glasses. He now wore a green polo shirt and black slacks. He looked very handsome. Billy looked at Trini. She was still beautiful as ever. Her hair was even longer then when he last saw her, and her face was fuller then he last remembered.  
  
"Hello, Trini." Billy said, trying to hold on to his composure.   
  
"Hello, Billy." She said in the same tone.  
  
"Nice to see you. What have you been up to?" He asked. Trini looked at  
  
him. Oh, you mean aside from missing you terribly? She thought.  
  
"Nothing really. After I left the peace conference, I was really from place  
  
to place. I even spent a little time in China with some relatives." She  
  
said. Billy gazed at her hands, which were at her sides. He looked for  
  
anything that resembled a wedding band. He was surprised at how happy he was to see not even a promise ring. He looked her up and down. She wore jeans and an orange top.   
  
"Really? That sounds great."  
  
"It was. And how have you been? Last I heard you were on a different  
  
planet." She said in a whisper.   
  
"How'd you hear?" He asked.  
  
"I called Tommy to sort of see how Angel Grove was going. And he told me about him and Kat, and about you."  
  
"Yeah, I was there for about three years, then I came back here and finished college and got a teaching degree."  
  
"Oh, are you a teacher?" He nodded.  
  
"Yes. Actually, I'm teaching at Angel Grove High."  
  
"Wow, that sounds amazing." She smiled softly.  
  
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Tommy, Brad and Keith walked back up from the basement of the dojo  
  
carrying boxes. They could hear grunts and someone hitting and kicking a  
  
punching bag. They walked up. Tommy saw a girl massively beating the bag.   
  
"Dude, isn't that that girl from study hall?" Keith asked Brad. Brad was  
  
slightly amazed by the girls form as she fought. Her concentration was fully  
  
on the bag. She didn't even notice them. Tommy placed his box down and  
  
walked over. He gripped the bag, causing the girl to look up at him.  
  
"Hey, relax. What'd the bag ever do to you?" He joked.  
  
CJ looked up at the guy. He had short hair that was slightly spiked  
  
up. He was dressed in black sweats and a gray work out shirt. She smirked  
  
at him.  
  
"It was there, therefore it instantly became my foe." She joked. The man  
  
smiled. She looked over his shoulder to see two boys she had seen in study  
  
hall carrying boxes. "Uhm, the dojo is open, right?" The man nodded.  
  
"Yeah. Are you interested in signing up for classes?" He asked. CJ nodded. He led her to a desk on the side, where a computer sat. "I'm Mr. Oliver by the way, but just call me Tommy." He said.   
  
"Carla-Jane Martinez." She said. The two guys put down their boxes and  
  
walked over to where Tommy was at the computer, getting CJ's information into  
  
the computer. He gave her a form.   
  
"OK, I just need a parent or guardian to sign this form." He said. CJ  
  
nodded.   
  
"Hey, uhm, nice form there." One of the guys said. "You study karate?"   
  
"Kickboxing. But since there's nothing involving that around here, I decided to try out Karate."   
  
"Oh, well, I'm Brad by the way, and this is Keith." He said, pointing to his  
  
friend. "And so far, we're the only students here."  
  
"Oh, that sounds cozy." CJ remarked sarcastically. "So, since I'm here, can I  
  
do anything to help or whatever?" She asked, pushing a wisp of blue hair  
  
out of her face.  
  
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"It is time to began." Empress Grasta said happily as she pointed her  
  
scepter to Earth.  
  
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The Zega Station shook furiously. Raffie 9, the medium sized android,  
  
tried to keep his balance.   
  
"Raffie." Came the soft, yet purpose filled, melodious, yet loud voice of  
  
Alda came as her face appeared in her chamber.   
  
"Yes, Oh mighty Alda?" Raffie said as he held onto the console to keep from falling on his android butt.  
  
"I fear that Empress Grasta has successfully begun her attacks on earth."  
  
"Oh man. What do we do?"   
  
"Find me ten humans. I sense a great power from a certain ten." Raffie went about in punching in the coordinates of the ten humans to teleport them to  
  
the Station.  
  
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"Earthquake! Everybody out!" Ernie yelled. Several teenagers  
  
screamed in a panic as they ran out, led by the pudgy man. Quinn and Tyrell  
  
stood up. She was knocked down by a stampede of people trying to get to the  
  
door.   
  
"Ty!" She screamed as people stepped on her.   
  
Kimberly fell backwards as the floor shook.  
  
"Kimberly!" She felt Kendra pull her up to her feet. She stood up.   
  
"Tyrell! Quinn!" Kendra yelled over. Kimberly looked to see a dark skinned  
  
boy, who looked a lot like Kendra, with an oriental girl in his arms. He saw  
  
them and rushed over. "What happened to Quinn?"   
  
"She got trampled."  
  
"Come on guy's, we've got to get out of here." Kimberly said.  
  
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Brad, Keith, Tommy and CJ were in the basement when the earthquake  
  
began.  
  
"What's going on?" CJ asked fearfully. She had never experienced an  
  
earthquake.  
  
"It's an earthquake, come, on let's get out of here." Brad grabbed her hand. They ran up the stairs to leave the basement, only to have the door shut in  
  
their faces. CJ pushed on it.   
  
"It won't budge!" She screamed.   
  
"It locks from the outside." Tommy said. Brad pulled CJ to him and held her in the doorway as boxes that were piled high by the walls began to fall.  
  
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Billy held Trini back as bookshelves began to fall. She stumbled against him as the two ran out of the way of falling bookshelves.   
  
"Trini!" Came Greg's voice.   
  
"Gregory, get out of here!" Mrs. Johnson, the owner of the bookstore shoved him out.  
  
"But...Trini-"  
  
"She's probably outside already. Now get out of here before you get clocked by a falling Hemmingway!" Greg and Mrs. Johnson left. Trini and Billy  
  
watched as the bookshelves all fell, blocking them from the only exit out of  
  
the store.  
  
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Kimberly, Tyrell, Quinn and Kendra ran to the door. All of a sudden  
  
they stopped. A weird feeling overcame them all.   
  
"What's happening?!" Quinn screamed. Tyrell held on to her. Kimberly  
  
recognized the feeling. She hadn't felt it in ten years. But....Could it be?  
  
Before she could finish her thought, Kendra, Tyrell, Quinn and herself  
  
vanished from Angel Grove Groove in flashes of pink, black, yellow and purple  
  
light.  
  
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Keith and Tommy tried to make their way to CJ and Brad. The force of  
  
the earthquake knocked them on their backs.   
  
"How are we going to get out of here?!" Keith said. Tommy was about to  
  
responded when he felt something strange.   
  
"What the-" Brad began, but before he could finish, Tommy, Keith, CJ and  
  
himself vanished in flashes of gray, white, blue and red lights.  
  
())))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))) ))))))))))))))))))))))(((((((((( Trini fell against Billy. He held her up. His heart jumped at the  
  
feel of her so close to him. Under other circumstances, he would've said  
  
something, but, he realized, being in the middle of an earthquake is not the  
  
best place to be Don Juan-ing it. He stopped as he felt a hauntingly  
  
familiar sensation. Trini felt it to.  
  
"Billy?" She looked at him. Before any of them could say a word, they  
  
vanished in flashes of green and orange.  
  
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Raffie and Alda watched as ten beams of light shone in front of them.   
  
First the purple materialized to reveal Kimberly. Then the pink materialized  
  
to reveal Kendra. Yellow and black materialized together to reveal Tyrell and  
  
Quinn. Then the gray materialized to reveal Tommy, then the white materizled  
  
to reveal Keith. Blue and red materialized together to reveal CJ and Brad.   
  
Lastly, orange and green materialized to reveal Trini and Billy. The ten  
  
looked around.  
  
"Keith!" Kendra ran over to him. Keith wrapped his arms around her. CJ  
  
looked at Brad, who was still holding her. She shoved him away with her  
  
shoulder.   
  
"Get off me." She snarled. Brad stepped back.  
  
"Mr. Cranston?" Quinn looked at Billy.   
  
"Kimberly?" Trini's jaw dropped at the sight of her best friend. She looked  
  
different. Her hair was shorter, and her facial features we're sharper.  
  
"Trini?" Kimberly couldn't believe her eyes. The two ran to each other and embraced in a long awaited hug between best friends. Trini looked over  
  
Kimberly's shoulder and said the one word that made Kimberly's heart stop.  
  
"Tommy?" Trini pulled away from Kimberly and went over to him.  
  
"Hey Trini. Good to see you." He smiled. Trini smiled back.  
  
"You cut your hair." She commented. Kimberly slowly turned to face him and caught her breath in her throat. He looked more handsome then she remembered him. Last she saw him had been nine years ago, when she and Jason came and were captured by Divatox.  
  
"Billy? What are you doing on earth?" Tommy asked as he embraced his friend in a friendly hug. Tyrell, Quinn, CJ, Kendra, Keith and Brad looked at Billy  
  
and Tommy.  
  
".....What?" Tyrell managed out.  
  
"Where else would he be, besides earth?" Quinn asked. Billy and Tommy  
  
looked at each other.   
  
"Uh..."  
  
"Hello." Came a voice. They all turned to see Alda and Raffie.  
  
"What the heck is that?!" Kendra said, pointing at Raffie. Raffie humphed  
  
indignantly.  
  
"I'm not a that. The name's Raffie 9." Said the robot.   
  
"Kimberly, Tommy, Billy, Trini." Alda called the four adults. They looked  
  
at her. "I am Alda of Eltar, sister of Zordon of Eltar." She explained.  
  
"Zordon?" CJ asked. "What the heck is going on here?" Brad, Tyrell,  
  
Kendra, Quinn and Keith simply shrugged. Kimberly looked at Alda.  
  
"Where is Zordon?" She asked. Alda was silent.  
  
"I am sorry, but my brother was terminated two years ago." Kimberly gasped. Alda looked at the six teenagers, who were standing there, confused out of  
  
their minds. She explained to all ten of the humans about Empress Grasta,  
  
and her agenda to take over the earth.  
  
"Hmm, sounds familiar." Tommy commented to Trini, Billy and Kimberly. They  
  
nodded. Alda disregarded the interruption and explained her reasons for  
  
bringing the ten of them together.  
  
"I have chosen you ten because of the warriors within your souls." She said. She gazed at them. One by one. "Motherly and caring Kimberly, you have the power of the Purple Stag." Kimberly looked down at her belt buckle to see a  
  
power coin and morpher appear. The coin had what looked like a deer  
  
embroidered in it. Alda looked at Billy. "Intelligent and resourful Billy,  
  
you have the power of the Green Wolf." Billy looked at his belt buckle to  
  
see a coin and morpher. He saw the image of the wolf.  
  
"Brings me back to the Ninjetti days." He commented. Alda looked at Trini.  
  
"Powerful Trini, you have the power of the Orange Eagle." Trini looked  
  
down at her belt buckle, sure enough, there was a coin with the image of an  
  
eagle. Alda looked at Tommy. "Strong and dependable Tommy,  
  
you have the power of the Grey Bear." Tommy looked down to see a bear etched on his coin. Alda looked at the six teenagers. "Tyrell." She said. Tyrell  
  
stepped forward. "You are quick and agile. You hold the power of the Black  
  
Cheetah." Tyrell looked down to see a coin with a cheetah on it. Alda  
  
looked at Kendra. "Graceful and determined Kendra, you hold the power of the  
  
Pink Fox." Kendra looked down to see a coin with a Fox on it. Alda looked  
  
at Keith. "Strong Keith, you hold the power of the White Ape." Keith looked  
  
at his coin and saw an ape on it. She looked at Quinn. "Gentle Quinn, you  
  
hold the power of the Yellow Unicorn." Quinn looked at her coin. She saw a  
  
unicorn with a flowing mane. "Strong and protective Brad, you hold the power  
  
of the Red Lion." Brad looked at his coin and saw a lion. Her eyes finally  
  
landed on CJ. "Carla-Jane, you are-"  
  
"Stop right there, lady." CJ said. Alda looked at her. "I don't need you  
  
to categorize me with some stupid characteristics, because, the fact is, I'm  
  
not going to be some freak in spandex running around saving the world." And  
  
with that she left the Zega Station. There was a long silence. Brad turned  
  
and went after her.  
  
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Empress Grasta looked down on earth.   
  
"So, little Alda thinks she can defeat me by getting some punney humans.   
  
HAH!" She stopped as an idea formed in her head. "Quor, Moldara." She  
  
called. Her two warriors walked in. She told them of her plan. Moldara  
  
looked at her. She bowed.  
  
"As you desire, oh Mighty Mistress." And with that, Quor and Moldara left.  
  
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CJ walked out of the place. A long desert stretched in front.  
  
"Oh great. I'm in the middle of friggen nowhere!"  
  
"Carla-Jane." She turned to see Brad.   
  
"It's CJ, and what do you want?" She asked.   
  
"Why are you leaving?" CJ looked at him.   
  
"Why do you care?"   
  
"Look, Alda selected us all because she felt we-"  
  
"Look, I don't really care what Alda thought, OK?" She turned to walk away. Brad grabbed her arm. He spun her around to face him.  
  
"Come on, CJ. How many people can honestly say they've been chosen to save the world." CJ glared at him.  
  
"A," she said her voice dripping with annoyance and anger. "A. Don't touch me." She swatted his hand off her arm. "And B. Why should I do anything  
  
for the world if the world treats me like sh-" She was interrupted by a loud  
  
bang. "What the..." She and Brad looked down and saw two creatures in  
  
heavy armor, one male, the other female, and over fifty brown figures that  
  
looked like zombies, but without the decaying flesh.  
  
"Hello, humans." Said the male in the armor. "I am Quor. General to  
  
Empress Grasta."  
  
"And I am Moldara, warrior." Said the female.   
  
"What do you want?" CJ asked.  
  
"Well that's quite simple, children." Moldara sneered. "To destroy you."  
  
"I don't think so!" Came Tommy's voice. Brad turned to see Tommy, Kimberly, Trini, Billy, Quinn, Keith, Tyrell and Kendra come out.   
  
"Zimoids! Attack!" Quor ordered. Tommy looked at CJ.   
  
"Get out of here, now."   
  
"Don't got to tell me twice." CJ ran down the rocks. Tommy looked at the  
  
remaining five teenagers.   
  
"Alright, let's do this." He said. He held his morpher up, as did  
  
Trini, Billy, and Kimberly. The teens followed in suit.  
  
"Bear!" Tommy cried out. He morphed into a suit, similar to his old suits,  
  
except this one was gray, and the helmet looked like the head of a bear.  
  
"Stag!" Kimberly cried out. She morphed into a suit, similar to her old  
  
suit, except this was purple, with the head of a deer.  
  
"Wolf!" Billy cried out. He morphed into a green suit that had the head of  
  
a wolf.  
  
"Eagle!" Trini cried out. She morphed into an orange suit that had an  
  
eagle on the helmet.  
  
"Cheetah!" Tyrell cried out. He morphed into a black suit that had the head of a cheetah.  
  
"Fox!" Kendra cried out. She morphed into a pink suit that had the head of a fox.  
  
"Ape!" Keith called out. He morphed into a white suit that had the head of  
  
an ape.  
  
"Unicorn!" Quinn cried out. She morphed into a yellow suit with the head of a horse with a horn sticking out.  
  
"Lion!" Brad called out. He morphed into a red suit with the head of a lion.  
  
Quor smiled as he saw the sixth teenager climbing down the rocks. He  
  
called Moldara over. He gestured to the girl. Moldara grinned and slowly  
  
made her way to the girl.  
  
The nine rangers flew off the rocks and landed in front of the  
  
Zimoids.   
  
"So, we just, beat these guys to a pulp?" Kendra asked. Kimberly kicked one in the head.   
  
"That's the main idea." She said.  
  
"Good." Keith said as he punched one. "Cause these guys are beginning to tick me off."  
  
CJ climbed down the rocks.   
  
"Hello." Came a haunting voice. CJ turned to see Moldara. "You're not  
  
leaving the party early, are you?" CJ gasped. She quickly tried to climb  
  
back up the rocks. Moldara gripped her ankle. CJ screamed as she hit the  
  
rocks. Her lip split. She could taste the salty taste of her own blood. She  
  
turned and kicked Moldara in the face. Moldara stumbled back. CJ scrambled  
  
up the rocks.   
  
"Kim!" She screamed. She felt Moldara's hand clamp on her mouth. She  
  
grabbed CJ by the waist and pulled her away.  
  
Trini kicked a Zimoid into a wall of rocks. The Rangers had gotten  
  
the upper hand. They had destroyed all the Zimoids.   
  
"Well, that was easy." Tyrell commented.  
  
"Yeah. A little to easy." Tommy said, suspicion edging his tone.  
  
"LET ME GO!" They all looked up to see Moldara and Quor, holding CJ.  
  
"NO!" Kimberly screamed. "Let her go!" Kimberly ran to where they stood.  
  
"Say bye, bye." Moldara sneered. Kimberly jumped up and launched herself into a flying kick. She was about to kick Quor, when they disappeared.   
  
Kimberly fell on the rock. She was panting.   
  
"No. Oh god. Carla!" She screamed. The others ran to her side. Kimberly fell to her knees with her head in her hands. "No..." She wept.  
  
End Of Episode 1  
  
You like? Feedback please. 


	2. Episode 2, Her Guardian

Name: Zega Rangers  
  
Episode: Her Guardian  
  
Summary: CJ's been kidnapped. The Rangers must find a way to save her.  
  
Episode 2  
  
Kimberly sat in the corner of the Zega Station, looking down. Quinn, Tyrell,  
  
Kendra, Keith, Brad, Tommy, Trini, Billy, Raffie and Alda looked at her. The  
  
eight humans had just learned that CJ was Kimberly's niece from Alda.   
  
"We'll get her back. She'll be fine." Tommy assured her.  
  
"No, no she won't be." Kimberly said softly.  
  
"Kim-" Trini said in a soft, soothing voice.  
  
"Goddammit." Kimberly stood up and looked at them. Tears streaming down her face. "I was supposed to protect her!" She screamed at them. "Me, I have to protect her."  
  
"Kimberly, it's not your fault." Billy said.  
  
"It is my fault!" She screamed. She could feel herself loosing control of  
  
the emotions she had kept in check for a month. "They picked me, me." She  
  
muttered to herself.  
  
"They? They who?" Tommy asked. Kimberly didn't look at them.  
  
"Why did they pick me? Out of all the other aunts, and everything, why me?" Trini walked over to Kimberly and put her hand on her shoulder. Kimberly  
  
looked at her. "I'm a failure."   
  
"No, no you're not." Trini said.  
  
"Not to be insensitive, but, what in the world are you talking about?"   
  
Tyrell said. Kimberly looked at them.   
  
"My older sister, Karen and her husband, Rick, CJ's parents, died in a car  
  
crash about a month ago." Kimberly said softly. Tommy looked at her. His  
  
heart ached to see her like this. "They named me her legal guardian." She  
  
choked out. There was a strong, uncomfortable silence. Tommy looked at Alda  
  
and Raffie.  
  
"Is there anyway to get CJ's location?" He asked.  
  
  
  
"Let me go!" CJ screamed. She struggled against the Zimoids that  
  
held her. Her bones ached from falling on the rocks. They dragged her into  
  
a cell. They threw her on the floor. She scrambled to her feet, only to see  
  
them shut the door. She ran to it and banged on it.  
  
"Let me out of here!" She screamed. "You're going to be sorry when I get my  
  
friggen hands on you!"  
  
Moldara scowled at the cell door.   
  
"If that annoying human does not silence herself I-"  
  
"You'll what?" Quor asked. He looked at her, composing himself with  
  
superiority.  
  
"What are you doing here? Grasta said she was mine."  
  
"Grasta also said she wanted the girl alive, so I suggest you do not harm  
  
her." Moldara looked at him. Her eyes widened.   
  
"You want her." She said, a grin forming on her lips. "She's wretched,  
  
explosive, and the potential for true evil, and you want her." Quor, anger  
  
forming in him, gripped Moldara by her neck and held her in a vice grip.  
  
"Silence, wench." He hissed. "Grasta wants her, I simply find her  
  
appealing." Moldara shook his hand away.   
  
"Very well." Quor gave her one last look and turned to leave. "But, do not  
  
be mistaken, if need be, the girl will be killed." She left him standing  
  
there.   
  
  
  
Billy looked over the controls in the Zega station. The resemblance  
  
to the Command Center was amazing. He and Raffie where busy scanning  
  
dimensions, trying to find CJ. Kimberly sat huddled in a corner with Trini  
  
holding her and stroking her hair comfortingly. Tommy simply stood, watching  
  
everything go on. The five teenagers stood huddled together, not sure what  
  
to do. Quinn stood up and walked over to Billy.  
  
"Mr. Cranston, can I help?" She asked. Billy looked at her. He nodded.  
  
"Yes," He smiled. "And you can call me Billy." He said. Quinn went to  
  
scanning. Kendra walked over to her.   
  
"So, Mr. Cran.......er, Billy, what exactly are we looking for?" She asked.  
  
"Well, the dimensions that they could have taken CJ are all located in the  
  
Andoli sector, since those are the only ones Grasta has rule over. Now, we  
  
just have to scan all of the dimensions in that sector and if the sensors  
  
detect an abnormality for the dimension, it might be the dimension where CJ's  
  
being held." He said. Kendra looked at him with a blank look on her face.  
  
"Huh?" She said. Trini smiled, remembering the times she had to be the  
  
translator for Billy. She was about to say something when Quinn spoke.  
  
"Basically, we have to check all these places out, and if anything seems not of the norm, that's where CJ is." Kendra nodded, understanding.  
  
"OK, I'm guessing the theory that Mr. Cranston was born with the SAT vocab and a lab coat on was right." She muttered to Quinn. Quinn giggled softly.  
  
Brad, Keith and Tyrell stood together.  
  
"This is all too strange." Keith said.  
  
"Yeah, but, you've got to admit, it was a heck of a rush, I mean, the moment I changed into the Cheetah, I felt like I was the cheetah, quick, powerful,  
  
it was amazing." Tyrell said. Keith and Brad nodded in agreement.  
  
"I know what you mean. I became the Lion, and I was ready to just tear at  
  
someone's jugular." Brad said. He looked over at Kimberly. He raked a hand  
  
through his hair. "I should've brought her back in here." He muttered.   
  
Keith looked at him. He sighed.  
  
"Dude, quit blaming yourself. It wasn't your fault. It's not anyone's  
  
fault." He said. "And trust me, this is the same girl who was about to  
  
annihilate the punching bag in Tommy's dojo, I think she'll be able to handle  
  
herself."   
  
"I sure hope so." Brad said.  
  
  
  
After what felt like an hour of kicking, banging and screaming at the  
  
door, CJ sat against the wall. She held her knees to her chest. Her fists  
  
hurt and her throat felt like she had just swallowed sandpaper. She sighed  
  
painfully.  
  
"Kimberly." She pleaded to the air softly, tears forming in her eyes. "Get  
  
me out of here, please." She rested her head on her knees as her body shook  
  
with sobs of fear, pain, and anger.  
  
  
  
Kimberly rested her head on Trini's shoulder as Trini stroked her hair  
  
softly.   
  
"I'm so scared." She said, her voice still sounding raspy from crying.   
  
"Shhh, it's OK. We'll find her. Don't worry.  
  
  
  
After sitting and crying, and generally feeling helpless, CJ knew she  
  
had to do something. She pulled herself up.   
  
"There has got to be someway out of here." She looked around the room  
  
closely. "Something...." She stopped when her eyes caught something.   
  
"B-I-N-G-O." She said with a smile forming on her lips. She saw a wooden  
  
plank slightly sticking up from the wooden floor. She went over and examined  
  
it. If she pulled at it, she could get the plank out, and fit thought the  
  
hole. She gripped at it and began to pull. "Ow." She gasped as she felt  
  
splinters go into her hands.   
  
  
  
Keith, Tyrell and Brad walked over to Quinn and Kendra.   
  
"Hey, any luck?" Keith asked.  
  
"Oh yeah, loads of luck," Kendra grumbled. "None of it good." Keith put an arm around her shoulders. Quinn rubbed her neck.  
  
"You OK?" Tyrell asked. Quinn nodded.   
  
"Yeah, just got a cramp in my neck." Tyrell went up behind her. He began rubbing her neck.  
  
"That better?" He asked.  
  
"Yeah." Tyrell took his hand away. "Thanks." She smiled. Suddenly there was a loud buzzing sound in the Station. The teens groaned and covered their ears. Kimberly, Tommy and Trini gathered around Billy.   
  
"Ah! What is that?" Brad yelled.   
  
"That would be our sensors." Billy said. He gently pushed Kendra aside.  
  
"You mean, you've found her?" Kimberly said, renewed hope in her voice.  
  
"Can someone please shut off that buzzer?" Keith asked. Trini went over and shut it off.  
  
"Sorry, after a while you sort of get used to it." She said. The teens  
  
stood up straight and uncovered their ears.   
  
"Billy, so, have the sensor's picked up on CJ?" Tommy asked.  
  
"Yes, they have." He said. There was a collective whoop for joy in the  
  
room.   
  
"Alright, let's go and get her." Quinn said.   
  
"Oh no." Raffie said fretfully as he looked at the coordinates of CJ's  
  
location. The others looked at him.  
  
"'Oh no'? What do you mean 'Oh no'?" Tyrell looked at the robot.   
  
"I should have figured Grasta would take CJ there." Alda said, her voice  
  
dripped with hatered.  
  
"Could we please tone down the cryptic sentences here? What's wrong?" Kendra asked. There was a pause.  
  
"The dimension where CJ is, which is called Aquis, is a heavily geared place. And it is full with evil creatures. You can not use your powers there, we  
  
can only send one of you, but we can not bring you back." Alda said. There  
  
was a silence.  
  
"So, how would they get back?" Kimberly said softly.  
  
"Deep in the Aquis forest, there's a portal that will transport them here."   
  
Raffie said.  
  
"I'll do it." Brad said. Kimberly looked at him.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I'll do it. I can beat those Zimoids, and any thing else, without my  
  
powers." He said, without sounding arrogant.  
  
"Brad, no, she's my niece, I'll get her." Kimberly said.   
  
"Kimberly, we think it should be best if Brad went. Brad, as a former boy  
  
scout knows his ways in wooded areas."  
  
"You were a boy scout?" Trini asked Brad.  
  
"Yeah. Let's hold off the boy scout jokes until CJ and I come back." He  
  
said. Kimberly looked at him.   
  
"The two of you come back, safely." Kimberly said.  
  
"If she's not back, then neither am I." He said. He looked at Alda.   
  
"Alright, I'm ready."  
  
  
  
CJ kept trying to pull the plank. She finally got an idea. She took  
  
her sweatshirt and put it under the plank. She pulled at the sleeves. She  
  
heard a slight tear in her sweatshirt, when suddenly the plank came off  
  
completely, hitting her in the face and sending her falling backwards. She  
  
shook her head and stood up. She grabbed her sweatshirt and tied it around  
  
her waist. She rubbed her forehead where the plank had hit her. She went to  
  
see the hole in the floor.   
  
"Not big enough." She muttered. She heard footsteps outside the cell door.   
  
She quickly grabbed the blank and stood by the door.   
  
  
  
Brad was teleported into a huge forest. He looked around. He could  
  
hear a waterfall in the distance. He looked around. It was hard to believe  
  
that a place this beautiful was evil. He looked around. He could see a  
  
tower a little bit past the ocean.   
  
"CJ's most likely there." He said to himself. He began to walk towards the  
  
tower.  
  
  
  
CJ held the plank as the cell door open. A Zimoid stood there.   
  
"Where's the girl?" Moldara's voice could be heard. The Zimoid shrugged. CJ gave out a war cry as she swung the plank at the Zimoid, hitting it in the head. It slammed against the wall and splattered. CJ ran out of the cell.   
  
She hit any Zimoids who came in her way. "Stop right there!" Moldara stood  
  
in front of her. CJ swung the plank. Moldara grabbed it. CJ and Moldara  
  
both held on to it.  
  
"Fine, keep it." CJ grunted as she shoved it into Moldara's stomach. The  
  
woman doubled over in pain. CJ ran past her. CJ ran along the dark corridors.  
  
"Stop, human!" She heard Moldara scream. She saw a laser beam shoot past  
  
her. She ducked down and kept running. She came across a metal ladder. She  
  
began to climb it. She could see the Zimoids and Moldara at the foot of the  
  
ladder. She stepped aside on a ledge and waited. She saw the head of a  
  
Zimoid.  
  
"YAH!" She screamed as she delivered a swift kick to the Zimoid's head,  
  
causing it, and all the Zimoids below it to fall to the floor crashing. CJ  
  
got up and found the exit way. She burst through and stopped slightly to  
  
take in the fresh oxygen.   
  
"I'm going to kill you!" Came Moldara's voice. CJ saw the woman climbing up  
  
the ladder. CJ began to run. Moldara climbed through the entrance, only to see the girl running. She cursed and stepped away as the Zimoids stepped out.   
  
"Well! Go get the bloody wench!" She screamed. She smacked them as they  
  
ran after CJ. Moldara stalked after them. CJ ran through the leafy branches and tried her best to doge up risen roots. She could hear a waterfall in the distance. She knew, she was absolutely sure that if she could make it to the waterfall, she'd be safe. She kept on running. Her legs ached. She saw the waterfall. CJ couldn't help the smile that broke out onto her face. "Stop, human!" She heard as she reached the edge of a cliff. She was about to jump into the waterfall when Moldara and the Zimoids found her.   
  
"You thought you could escape us?" Moldara yelled.  
  
"The thought crossed my mind." CJ retorted. Moldara let out an infuriated  
  
growl, and in an instant, CJ felt a sharp pain in her back. She screamed as  
  
everything went black.  
  
Brad stopped as he saw CJ, Moldara and some Zimoids at the opposing  
  
side of the waterfall.   
  
"CJ!" He yelled. CJ couldn't hear him over the roar of the water. He heard  
  
Moldara let out a growl as she shot CJ with a laser gun. "NO!" He gasped as  
  
he saw her eyes roll back into her head and her body crumple into the  
  
waterfall. He saw her body crash into the water. It sank. Before he knew  
  
what he was doing, he jumped in after her.  
  
End Of Episode 2  
  
Quick Teaser line for Episode 3, "Bonding over Pain"  
  
"Over the hills and through the woods, to Grandma's house we go." Brad  
  
muttered sarcastically.  
  
Feedback please. :) 


	3. Episode 3, Bonding Over Pain

Name: Zega Rangers  
  
Episode: Bonding Over Pain  
  
Summary: Brad and CJ search for the portal to get them back home as  
  
tension-sexually and regular-slightly builds in the Zega Station.  
  
Episode 3  
  
Brad hit the raging waters hard. His body ached from it. The water pushed  
  
him under. He forcefully pushed himself to the surface. He saw a bobbing  
  
head with brown and blue hair. "CJ!" He called. The head went under. He  
  
cursed and dived under. He saw CJ's lifeless body floating. He rushed over.  
  
Brad snaked his arm across her waist. He pedaled hard, pulling himself and  
  
CJ up to the surface. He felt her head fall against his chest. "CJ?" He  
  
looked at her. She wasn't conscious. He sidestroked against the rough  
  
water. He saw a grassy shore nearby. He moved over to it. He reached the  
  
shore. CJ still made absolutely no movement. He grabbed onto the shore with  
  
his free hand. He pushed CJ up. Finally, after much effort, he was able to  
  
get her upper body out of the water. Brad pulled himself up. And grabbed  
  
her. He scooped her up into his arms and pulled her further into the shore.   
  
He laid her down on her back. He kneeled down beside her.  
  
"CJ?" He said.   
  
He shoved her hair out of her face. He lowered his head to her face, trying  
  
to see if she was breathing. Nothing. "Damn." He tilted her chin up and  
  
pinched her nose. He lowered his mouth to hers. He put his mouth over hers  
  
and began to perform CPR. He sat up straight; there wasn't any response from  
  
her. He sighed painfully. He pushed down on her bare, tight stomach. OK,  
  
he thought to himself, now is not the time to check her out. "Come on CJ."   
  
He lowered his mouth to hers again. Still, nothing. He cursed furiously.   
  
He lowered his mouth to hers again. All of a sudden she coughed as water  
  
sputtered out of her mouth. Brad couldn't help as a smile came to his face.   
  
She was OK. She coughed. Brad helped her turn to her side as she puked  
  
water. She groaned.   
  
"Ow." She said softly.   
  
"You OK?" He asked. She softly shook her head.  
  
"My shoulder, it hurts where that chick shot me." She groaned again.   
  
"Well, think of it this way," He said as he helped her sit up. "At least  
  
you're not dead." CJ chuckled softly. She rolled her shoulder.   
  
"Yeah, thankfully. She must've had her laser on stun or something." She  
  
looked at Brad. "Where are the others?" She asked.  
  
"Uhm, actually, it's just me. They were only able to send one person to come  
  
and get you." CJ looked at him.   
  
"OK, you've got me. Now what?"   
  
"We're supposed to find some portal in the forest or whatever." She took a deep breath and ran her hand over her head.   
  
"Jeez, I must look like crap." She sighed. Brad smiled at the normality in  
  
her tone.  
  
"You look like someone who almost died." He chuckled. CJ smiled.   
  
"Alright, don't we have a portal to find?"   
  
"Sure you're up for it."  
  
"I'm up for going back to Angel Grove." Brad nodded and stood up. He held his hand out to her. She took it and he pulled her to her feet. They began  
  
to walk. CJ pulled her hair out of the two braids. Brad looked at her as  
  
she raked her fingers through her hair. OK, he thought to himself, now is  
  
not the time to check her out, either. He sighed.  
  
"Over the hills and through the woods, to Grandma's house we go." Brad  
  
muttered sarcastically. CJ laughed.  
  
After what seemed like hours, CJ stopped and leaned against a tree.   
  
She slowly slid to a sitting position on the ground.   
  
"Brad." She said. Brad stopped and looked back at her. He walked over to her.   
  
"Hey you OK?" He took her arm and gently pulled her up. She slumped against him.   
  
"Just, tired." She mumbled. Brad held her up.   
  
"Yeah. It's been a long day." He looked over to see the sun setting. "And  
  
it's about to be dark, anyway." Brad looked down at her. Her eyes were half-mast. Damnit, he thought, now is still not the time! He cleared his throat.  
  
"Come on, let's try and find a place to rest." She nodded.  
  
  
  
Kimberly stood against the wall at the Zega Station nervously wringing  
  
her hands. Tommy looked at her. He walked over.   
  
"Hey." He said, offering her a small smile. Kimberly looked up and returned  
  
his smile.  
  
"Hey." She nervously pulled her hair behind her ear. Tommy looked at her.  
  
"Hey. They'll be OK." He said. Kimberly looked at him. That's not all I'm  
  
worried about, she thought to herself. She couldn't help looking him over.   
  
He was dressed in black sweats and a gray work out shirt. His chest and arms  
  
were a bit more muscular then she had remembered, and his long hair was gone.  
  
He also had the slight showings of a growing goatee on his face.   
  
"I hope so." She forced out. Tommy nodded. He looked her over. She wore tight jeans and a purple t-shirt. Her hair was shorter and now went down to  
  
the middle of her neck. It was also somewhat layered. Her cheekbones where sharper and defined then the last time he saw her, yet her eyes still held that innocent and child like sparkle that had attracted him to her so many years ago.  
  
"You want to uhm, go and talk, alone?" He blurted out. Kimberly looked at  
  
him.  
  
"Uhm..."  
  
"Kimberly, go, we'll contact you guys if anything happens." Trini said.   
  
Kimberly looked at her; slightly surprised Trini was overhearing their  
  
conversation. She walked over to her.  
  
"You're not helping." She said to her friend in a low voice through clenched  
  
teeth.  
  
"Just go talk to him." Trini said. "It'll be good for both of you."   
  
Kimberly sighed and turned to Tommy.  
  
"OK." The two disappeared in flashes of gray and purple light.  
  
  
  
Brad half carried CJ as they walked deeper into the forest. He saw a  
  
clearing with rocks and logs. He brought her over and set her down by a log.  
  
She leaned against it. CJ watched as Brad gathered up some smaller logs and  
  
grabbed two palm-sized rocks. He held them over the logs and began to strike  
  
them together. CJ narrowed her eyes in puzzlement.  
  
"What are you doing?" She asked.  
  
"Making a fire." He said logically as he continued striking the rocks.  
  
"What are you a boy scout or something?" She chuckled.  
  
"Actually, I was. Quit like a year ago." He said. CJ stopped.  
  
"Oh." She laughed softly. "I should've known."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Brad asked.   
  
"You're like this, All American Boy." CJ said. "Let me guess, you date the  
  
friggen Homecoming Queen or something." Brad finally got the fire going. He  
  
stood up and walked over to her. He sat down next to her.  
  
"Actually, if you must know, I don't date." He said.  
  
"You don't date?" She looked at him skeptically. He doesn't date? She  
  
thought to herself. A guy that good looking, and he doesn't date. Right.   
  
"Nope." He looked at her. "And what do you mean, 'All American Boy'?" CJ chuckled.   
  
"Nothing, it's just that, well, Boy Scout? Come on." She smirked. Brad  
  
laughed.  
  
  
  
Tommy and Kimberly appeared in Angel Grove Park. Kimberly looked  
  
around, smiling.  
  
"Wow, I haven't been here in ages." She said softly. "Brings back old  
  
memories." She said, looking at Tommy. Tommy looked at her.   
  
"Yeah? Like what?" He asked, smiling.  
  
"Well, me and yo-" She stopped herself. Tommy looked at her. Well? He thought to himself. He couldn't help feeling his heart lift at the thought  
  
of her thinking of them. Me and you, walking along here, together. She  
  
thought.   
  
"Uhm, nothing." She looked down. Tommy's heart sank.  
  
"Oh." They walked along the park. "So, how've you been?" He asked.   
  
Kimberly looked at him with a raised eyebrow.  
  
"My sister and her husband died a month ago, and I've become a mother. How would you be?" She said. Her voice colder then she intended. Tommy  
  
mentally cursed himself. Not a good conversation starter, he thought.   
  
Kimberly sighed and looked down. "Sorry." She said softly. "I've just been  
  
stressed." Tommy nodded. He saw a bench. He led her to it. The two sat  
  
down.   
  
"I can only imagine." He said to her. "How's CJ been holding up?" He  
  
asked. Kimberly sighed painfully.  
  
"She barely talks to me, and when she does, she just says the perfect thing  
  
to make me go insane." Tommy looked at her.  
  
"What do you mean?" Kimberly raked her fingers through her hair.   
  
"Well, this morning for example. She came down, wearing this fake nose ring, which looked pretty real. I told her 'You almost gave me a heart attack' and  
  
she said something about, losing her parents and legal guardian in one month,  
  
wouldn't that be a record." Tommy looked at her.  
  
"Kim I'm so sorry."  
  
"Ted, Karen's lawyer, said that although they wanted me to become CJ's legal guardian, the offer of foster care until she became 18 was available." She  
  
said. "But..I don't know, something told me that was just out of the  
  
question." Tommy nodded. "I mean, the girl looses her parents, you can't  
  
just throw her into a foster home and pray everything's alright."  
  
"She needs family." Tommy said to her. Kimberly looked at him. His soft,  
  
caring, warm brown eyes gazed back at her. She quickly looked down.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
  
  
Brad watched as the flames flickered. He looked over at CJ. She  
  
untied her sweatshirt from her waist and laid it by the fire. CJ sighed and  
  
caught him looking at her. She shrugged.  
  
"Figured it'd be dry soon if I put it by the fire." She said as she sat back  
  
down. Brad couldn't help looking at her body, that was barely covered in  
  
black sweats and a small blue sports bra. Dear lord man! Said a voice in  
  
his head. Control your friggen libido. This is not the time or the place to  
  
be checking her out.  
  
Brad was sleeping peacefully when he heard whimpering and crying.  
  
"No....Mom! Dad!" He opened his eyes to see CJ tossing her head from side to side. He pulled himself up and moved over to her side.   
  
"CJ?" He said. He slightly shook her shoulder.  
  
"Mom! Dad! NO!" She screamed as she jumped up to a sitting position, into Brad's arms. Brad pulled away slightly and looked at her. Her face was tear-streaked. "Oh god." She whimpered. "It was just a dream." She began to  
  
sob. Brad held her closer, letting her cry into his chest.  
  
  
  
Trini stood by the controls, doing......Anything. Anything that kept  
  
her mind off of the very handsome man in green standing not to far away.   
  
This afternoon, when Quinn translated Billy's science-speak, Trini was  
  
slightly surprised as she felt the strong pang of jealousy. She's just a  
  
child. She thought. And it's obvious that she and that young man, Tyrell,  
  
have something going on between them.  
  
"Hey." She gasped silently when she heard Billy. He was now standing right behind her at the controls. He looked over them. Trini swallowed the lump  
  
in her throat.  
  
"Hey." She said. Good god woman, said a voice in her head, its just Billy, you've stood this close to him before. Although, then, they were teenagers,  
  
and all raging hormones aside, there wasn't that much of sexual need in the  
  
group. But now, both adults, raging hormones raced at a speed of light.  
  
  
  
Brad held on to CJ as she cried. Her body shook with the intensity of  
  
her sobs. He held her closer and tighter. The last thing he wanted was for  
  
her to give herself a seizure or something.  
  
"Shh.." He whispered as he stroked her hair. "It's OK, It's OK."   
  
CJ didn't realize at first where she was. All she knew was that when  
  
she woke up, there were arms around her. Strong, warm, gentle arms. She  
  
appreciated those arms after being gripped by that cold and fierce nightmare.   
  
When the arms threatened to pull away, she almost let out a whimper. She  
  
looked up to see whom those arms belonged too. Brad. He looked at her and  
  
pulled her back into his arms. She buried her face in his chest and sobbed.  
  
She felt him hold her tighter as he stroked her hair.   
  
"Shh." She heard him whisper. "It's OK, It's OK." Some how, his words, and  
  
his touch brought her out of her state of shock and pain. She sighed as her  
  
sobs subsided.  
  
  
  
Kendra, Keith, Tyrell and Quinn sat in the Zega Station.  
  
"How do you think they're doing?" Quinn asked as she nervously twirled her hair around her finger. A movement she did only when she was the epitome of worried.  
  
"I think it's just a matter of time before they're back here." Kendra said,  
  
trying to ease her friends mind.  
  
"I sure hope so." Quinn muttered. Tyrell numbly put his arm around her and pulled her into a hug. Kendra watched as her brother displayed such care to  
  
their best friend. She couldn't help smile as realization of Tyrell's  
  
feelings for Quinn hit her.  
  
  
  
CJ pulled her face back and wiped her cheeks. She saw a huge wet spot  
  
on Brad's t-shirt. CJ realized it was from her tears.  
  
"Oh..I'm sorry." She said softly. Brad smiled.  
  
"It's OK." He let her go. CJ reached over and touched her sweatshirt. She was glad it was dry. She slipped it over her self, zipping it up to right  
  
below the end of her sports bra. Brad looked at CJ as the flickering flames  
  
made her face become illuminated in orange light. "You want to talk about  
  
it?" He asked. CJ looked at him, tears still in her eyes.   
  
"Yeah. It'd be nice to talk to someone about something." She muttered.  
  
"You mean, you never talked to your aunt?"  
  
"No." She responded bluntly.  
  
"Why not?" Brad said cautiously. He was careful not to over step his  
  
bounds. Last thing he wanted was a beauti...........Er.........Was a  
  
g...........Oi. Last thing he wanted was CJ mad at him.  
  
"Because she doesn't feel." She said, breaking into his thoughts ramblings.  
  
"I mean, it's one thing to talk to someone who doesn't say anything but hold you and say 'I'm sorry', but, it's another thing to talk to a family member  
  
who doesn't say anything when she should be crying with you. I haven't seen  
  
her cry once."  
  
"She cried today." Brad said. CJ's head snapped up.  
  
"She did?"   
  
"Yeah. Maybe she hasn't cried in front of you because she thinks she's  
  
supposed to be the strong one, you know?" CJ nodded.  
  
"I.........I never saw it that way." She wiped at her cheeks. Brad looked  
  
at her.  
  
"Hey, maybe you should talk to your aunt about, like, your dream." He  
  
suggested. CJ shook her head.  
  
"No." CJ said. "I want to talk about it." Brad nodded. She took a deep  
  
breath. "I dreamt I was in this funhouse thing, you know, those things with  
  
all those funky mirrors. Well, I was walking around, alone, seeing all the  
  
mirrors, but I never saw my reflection, I'd see my mother. Then, all of a  
  
sudden, all of the mirrors had them," her voice wavered slightly. "In the  
  
car, driving." Her chin quivered. "I saw the truck coming at them and tried  
  
to stop them, but every time I tried to run over, it was just another  
  
mirror." She let out a sob. Brad reached over and took her in his arms again.  
  
She sobbed into his chest, just like she did a few minutes ago. "I couldn't  
  
stop them." Brad stroked CJ's hair. He felt her slide her arms around his  
  
neck.  
  
"Shh." He whispered softly in her ear. He lifted her face and wiped at her  
  
cheeks with his thumb.  
  
CJ felt Brad lift her face up and felt him wipe her tears away. It  
  
felt oddly comforting. His touch, like his eyes, in contrast with his  
  
somewhat buff body, was soft and gentle. She felt herself almost become lost  
  
in it. She slid her arms away and sat back away from him slightly, without  
  
really calling attention to it.  
  
Brad felt his heart sink as he felt her arms slide away. She pulled  
  
away from him. He looked at her. He knew she felt somewhat awkward for just  
  
sharing something like that. Something in him told him to let out something  
  
about himself. He took a deep breath.  
  
"My dad, left me and my mom when I was a kid." Brad said. CJ looked at him. "It was my birthday. He said he was going to pick up the cake. Said he'd  
  
be back in ten minutes, tops." He stopped. CJ silently slipped her hand  
  
under his. "Well, ten minutes turned to ten hours, ten days, ten weeks, ten  
  
months, and now, ten years."  
  
"Oh god, Brad I'm so sorry." CJ whispered. Brad smiled at her care. For  
  
some reason, her words, her touch, and their current proximity was somewhat  
  
intoxicating to him.  
  
"It's OK." He said softly. "At first, I thought it was my fault, you know?   
  
That, not being the perfect son drove him away." CJ's mouth hung open as  
  
tears slide down her cheeks. "But, I know it's not me." Brad whispered,  
  
almost as if he was trying to reassure her.   
  
"How can you....I mean, I can't last a month, let alone ten years." CJ said.  
  
"After sometime it gets easier." He said. "Sometimes, I see other people  
  
who've got both parents and still can't help feeling jealous. But, I have my  
  
mom, and" he smiled. "She's made it painfully obvious how much she loves and  
  
cares about me." CJ laughed softly. Brad's heart skipped a beat at the  
  
beauty of the sound. He cleared his throat. "And, even if your parent's  
  
aren't here," He motioned around them, as to say, in the world. "They're  
  
here." He placed a hand on her forehead. "And here." He placed a hand by  
  
her chest, careful not to touch any body part that, if touched, would get him  
  
slapped. "They love you. And, Kimberly, and all of us, are here for you."  
  
"You mean that? About....You guy's being there? After I was the epitome of an evil bit-" Brad laughed softly.  
  
"Yeah. I mean, would I be here if I didn't mean that?" CJ smiled.  
  
End Of Episode 3  
  
Teaser lines for ep 4, "Be it ever so humble..."  
  
"I'm wet, I'm dirty, I'm tired, and I'm in some freaky forest place where the  
  
populous wants to kill me, and to top it all off, my aunt is probably back  
  
home, getting Nookie from her ex boyfriend!" CJ yelled at the top of her  
  
lungs. Brad looked at her.  
  
"CJ?"  
  
"What!" She said.  
  
"If and when we get out of here, remind me to never piss you off." 


	4. Episode 4, Be it Ever so Humble

Name: Zega Rangers  
  
Episode: Be It Ever So Humble.....  
  
Summary: CJ and Brad grow closer to finding the portal.  
  
Episode 4  
  
Tommy looked at Kimberly.   
  
"So....Uh.....How was Florida?" He asked. Kimberly's heart froze. She knew  
  
this would come up. She had just prayed desperately that it wouldn't be  
  
until they where old, and probably suffering from alziemers, but of course,  
  
life isn't that kind.  
  
"Um, it was good." She nodded. Please leave it at that.   
  
"How's your.....uhm......er......" Arg, just say it, he thought to himself.   
  
He cleared his throat. "Boyfriend?" Oh man, Kimberly inwardly groaned.  
  
"Um......Well.....You see, uh....." She couldn't help the tears cloud her  
  
eyes.  
  
  
  
Brad and CJ walked along the forests.  
  
"So, do we have any idea where this portal is?" CJ asked.  
  
"Uh, no." He grimaced.  
  
"Oi." She sighed. A twig snapped in the distance. She raked her fingers  
  
through her hair. She decided to make small talk. "So, what was the deal  
  
with my aunt and that Tommy dude?" She asked.   
  
"What do you mean?" Brad asked as he pushed a leafy branch away to let her  
  
pass.  
  
"Thanks." She smiled as she walked through. "I mean, there was definite  
  
tension between the two." Brad shrugged as he let the branch go.   
  
"My best guess is that they're exes." He suggested. CJ nodded.  
  
"And what about Mr. Cranston and Trini?" Brad shuddered.  
  
"Ah, I do not want to think about the love life of my teacher." Both of them  
  
laughed. Brad stopped. CJ looked at him.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Did you hear that?" He asked.  
  
"Hear wha-" They where interrupted as huge peterytactol-slash-vulture looking  
  
creatures swooped over the trees and gave out ear piercing squawks. CJ and  
  
Brad covered their ears in pain. "What the heck are those things?" CJ  
  
screamed.   
  
"I don't know, but I don't want to wait and find out!" Brad grabbed her  
  
wrist and pulled her along as he ran through the woods. CJ ran behind him.   
  
She looked back to see that the creatures where following them.   
  
"Brad! They're following us!" Brad ran faster. They flew low, their talon  
  
feet outstretched. Brad saw this. He pulled CJ to him.  
  
"Get down!" He threw himself and CJ down, barely missing a talon about to  
  
grab CJ's shoulder.   
  
"AHH!" CJ screamed as one swooped extra low and grabbed her shoulders.   
  
"CJ!" Brad tried to grab her but the creature pulled her away. He got up  
  
and followed the creature. It was carrying her back to the tower. He  
  
grabbed a branch and swung at any of the other creatures that came at him.   
  
CJ swung her legs.  
  
"Let me go you sorry excuse of a big bird reject!" She screamed.   
  
"CJ, hang on!" Brad swung at the last of the creatures and began to run  
  
after CJ.  
  
"Oh, I'm hanging, I'm hanging!" CJ said. Brad saw the creature going over a  
  
lake by a cliff. He pulled the branch back, and threw in, spere-like, at it,  
  
praying it would hit the creature, and not CJ. The branch hit the creature's  
  
leg and it let out a painful squawk as it let go of CJ. She screamed as she  
  
fell. She grabbed onto what she thought was a root at the edge of the cliff,  
  
but was really a vine. She hit the side of the cliff.   
  
"CJ!" Brad ran over to her. "Hold on!" CJ looked up as she hung by the  
  
vine.   
  
"Hurry!" She screamed. She saw as the vine began to break. "Brad!" With a  
  
snap, the vine broke. She screamed as she fell. She fell into the lake.   
  
She sputtered as she came back up. Brad ran over to see where the land  
  
slopped to the lake. He ran over and saw CJ splashing over and pulling  
  
herself out. He stood in front of her and bent down to help her up. She  
  
pushed his hands away.   
  
"CJ-" She stood up on her own. She pushed her wet her out of her face.   
  
"Let's just find this damn portal and get the heck out of here." She said  
  
through clenched teeth."  
  
"Are you ok?" He asked.  
  
"NO! I am not OK." She turned to him with her eyes filled with anger. "I'm  
  
wet, I'm dirty, I'm tired, and I'm in some freaky forest place where the  
  
populous wants to kill me, and to top it all off, my aunt is probably back  
  
home, getting Nookie from her ex boyfriend!" CJ yelled at the top of her  
  
lungs. Brad looked at her.  
  
"CJ?" Brad said.  
  
"What!" She said.  
  
"If and when we get out of here, remind me to never piss you off." He said,  
  
his voice with a hint of amusement. CJ groaned. Brad realized his little  
  
joke had actually pissed her off. "OK, ok, sorry." He apologized as she  
  
took off her sweatshirt and tried her best to ring it out. She finally  
  
sighed and just tied it around her waist. Brad raked his fingers through his  
  
blonde hair. "I was just trying to.....I don't know, make light of the  
  
situation." CJ looked at him. Her face softened lightly, realizing he was  
  
trying to make her feel better.   
  
"Yeah, you're right. Sorry for blowing up at ya." She gave a small smile.   
  
"It's ok." He said. Brad stopped suddenly. He saw a large shimmering orb  
  
atop of a high, rocky mountain.  
  
"What?" She turned around to see what he was looking at and gasped. "Is  
  
that-?"  
  
"The portal." Brad said. CJ gave a whoop for joy and laughed.  
  
"Yes!" She cheered. Brad watched as she jumped up and down joyously. She  
  
saw him looking at her and stopped. She rubbed the back of her neck. "I  
  
mean, uhm, cool, let's go." She said in a natural voice. Brad laughed.  
  
  
  
Tommy looked as Kimberly kept her head down as she wringed her  
  
fingers.   
  
"Kim?" He put a hand on her shoulder. He felt her body stiffen slightly.   
  
"Kim, what's wrong?"   
  
"Tommy......I....." Her voice trailed off into sobs. Tommy's eyes widened  
  
slightly. He took her into his arms without even thinking about it twice.   
  
  
  
Brad and CJ walked up the ledges of the mountain. After a few ledges,  
  
CJ fell on her knees. Brad kneeled by her.  
  
"You OK?"  
  
"I....Can't....Go....On." She panted. Brad gently pulled her up.  
  
"Come on, just a little left to go." He said, his voice filled with  
  
encouragement. They walked a few more ledges, when even Brad couldn't go  
  
anymore. "OK, maybe we should take a break." He said. CJ nodded and nearly  
  
collapsed into a sitting position. Brad sat next to her. CJ groaned and  
  
pulled her sneakers off. "What are you doing?" He asked.  
  
"All this walking, running, falling into bodies of water is killing my feet."  
  
She said. She flexed her toes.   
  
"Here." He took one of her, surprisingly, perfect pedicured feet into his  
  
hands. He gently massaged it. CJ watched as he did so. He let go and took  
  
her other foot.  
  
"Where'd you learn to do that? Boy Scouts?" She asked when he was done as  
  
she pulled her socks and sneakers back on. He laughed.  
  
"Nah. Single mom working multiple jobs coming home with tired feet." He  
  
said as he stood up. He stuck his hands out for her. She grabbed his hands  
  
and he pulled her up to her feet. Brad and CJ looked up. The portal was  
  
at least 5 more ledges. Brad jokingly held his arm out. "Well, shall we?"   
  
CJ laughed and playfully shoved him.   
  
"Let's go." They continued walking.   
  
  
  
Quinn looked down at the controls. Trini stood next to her.   
  
"I hope Brad and CJ are alright." Quinn said. Trini looked at her.  
  
"Don't worry. If CJ's anything like her aunt, then they'll be OK." She  
  
said, offering a smile. Quinn smiled back. Tyrell walked over.   
  
"Hey." He said to Quinn.   
  
"Hey." She said. Trini couldn't help but smile at the obvious affection the  
  
boy had for Quinn, and the fact that Quinn didn't notice.  
  
  
  
CJ and Brad had walked three ledges. On their way, they had picked up  
  
two branches as walking sticks.  
  
"I know one thing, once I get home, I'm taking a long shower, and a long  
  
nap." CJ said. Brad gulped. For some reason, the thought of CJ in the  
  
shower made him feel...odd.   
  
"And where do you think you are going?" They heard a voice. They spun  
  
around to see Moldara and a bunch of Zimoids. "You, little child," She said  
  
to CJ, "are more trouble then your worth."   
  
"Oh, up yours you ugly hag." CJ spat out. Moldara gasped.  
  
"Ugly?! Did you just call me ugly?!" She growled. "Zimoids, destroy!" The  
  
Zimoids attacked them. CJ and Brad fought them. Brad kicked and punched at  
  
them.   
  
"AH YAH!" CJ screamed as she kicked one Zimoid off the mountain and swung  
  
her walking stick at another. Moldara watched the girl fight with amusement.  
  
Brad looked up. He saw Moldara approaching CJ.   
  
"CJ!" He yelled. CJ looked at him and spun around, she saw Moldara and  
  
ducked, just in time to miss Moldara swinging her sword at her head. The  
  
Zimoids who were attacking CJ drifted to attack Brad. CJ gasped. She knew  
  
Brad couldn't fight all of them.   
  
"Brad!" She ran to help him. Moldara laughed and grabbed her arm. She spun  
  
CJ around to face her.   
  
"You are not going anywhere!" She said. As CJ came to face Moldara, she  
  
swung her walking stick, hitting Moldara at the side of her face.   
  
"Don't touch me, you freak." She spat out.   
  
"How dare you call me a freak!" She went to grab her. CJ dropped down in a  
  
split and grabbed Moldara's leg. She pulled them out from under her.   
  
Moldara screamed as she fell to the ground. CJ got up. Moldara stood up and  
  
brushed her armor off. She glared at her.   
  
"Do not think this is over,  
  
child." And with that, she was gone. CJ watched her disappear. She was  
  
panting. CJ heard a sickening SNAP.  
  
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Brad hollered in pain. CJ spun around to see Brad fall to the ground, the Zimoids where kicking him.   
  
"YAH!" CJ yelled as she swung her walking stick a one head, causing a  
  
domino affect, making all the Zimoids fall off the mountain. She knelt down  
  
by Brad. He was groaning in pain, clutching is arm, which was bent at the  
  
elbow by his chest. "Oh gosh, are you alright?" She said.  
  
"Yeah." He forced out. CJ placed her hand on his back and helped him up  
  
into a sitting position. "My arm....." He trailed off. He tried to move it.  
  
"No." She said. "Don't move it, it might be broken." She said. She pulled  
  
his other arm away from the injured one. She stopped. "OK, what to do, what  
  
to do...." She stopped when she saw his walking stick. She stood up and  
  
grabbed it. She broke off two small pieces over her knee. She went back to  
  
Brad. "Alright, I have to put your arm in a splint, so, uh, sorry if I hurt  
  
you or anything." She said. Brad looked at her. She untied her sweatshirt  
  
from her waist. CJ placed the two pieces of the stick on either side of his  
  
arm. Brad hissed slightly in pain as they touched his arm. CJ cast him a  
  
sypathdic look. "Sorry." She grabbed her sweatshirt and wrapped it around  
  
his arm. Brad looked at what she was doing in wonder. CJ took the arms of  
  
the sweatshirt and leaned over Brad to tie the arms behind his neck. Brad  
  
couldn't help as his mouth went dry at feeling her arms around him.  
  
  
  
Kimberly wiped her eyes and sat up.   
  
"You OK?" Tommy asked. Kimberly nodded.  
  
"Sorry, uhm, bad memories. Can we talk about it some other time?" Tommy  
  
nodded.   
  
"Yeah. Let's go back to the Zega Station, see if there's any news on CJ and  
  
Brad." He said. Kimberly nodded, grateful for the fact that he didn't push  
  
the subject. The two teleported back to the Zega Station. Everyone looked  
  
at them. "Anything?" Tommy asked.   
  
"No, sorry." Tyrell said.  
  
  
  
CJ knotted the arms of the sweatshirt behind Brad's neck. She stood  
  
up and groaned when she saw they were still far from the portal. She knelt  
  
by Brad.   
  
"You ok?" She asked. Brad nodded numbly. He tried to get up. CJ helped  
  
him. Once he was on his feet, everything seemed to whirl around him. CJ put  
  
her arm around his waist and held him up the best she could.  
  
  
  
"You imbeciles!" Grasta screeched at Quor and Moldara. "You're  
  
letting them get away!" Quor stepped back.  
  
"You're majesty, I had nothing to do with this. You left Moldara, and her  
  
incompetence in charge of the girl." Moldara glared at him.   
  
"Why you little-"  
  
"Silence! Both of you!" Grasta screamed. She rubbed her temples. "You're  
  
giving me a massive headache.  
  
  
  
CJ dragged herself and Brad along the ledges. Brad was teetering on  
  
the edge of consciousness from the pain in his arm. CJ let out a groan as she  
  
climbed up a rock. She tripped and hit her knee. She screamed in pain.   
  
Brad fell onto his back. CJ looked at Brad. He was unconscious.   
  
"Brad?" She shook his good shoulder. "Brad? Brad!"  
  
  
  
Quinn watched as Keith and Kendra sat, huddled together. God, she  
  
thought. Can't those two keep their hands off each other for five seconds?   
  
She thought bitterly. Quinn mentally chastised herself. Come on, they're  
  
you're best friends. You're happy that they're happy............Right?   
  
  
  
CJ limped up the ledges, while half carrying, half dragging an  
  
unconscious Brad. She groaned as she tried to go up the ledges.  
  
"You know," she grunted. "This would be so much easier if you were  
  
conscious!" She groaned as she fell back onto her butt. Brad landed between  
  
her legs, his back towards her, with his head and back against her adenoma.  
  
"OK, I guess now's a good time for a break." She placed her palms behind  
  
her and leaned on her arms. She looked down and couldn't help gaze at how  
  
his blonde hair cascaded towards his forehead. She looked up towards the  
  
portal. She saw they only had a few more to go before they reached the  
  
portal.   
  
"Hey." She shook her leg, hopping to jar him into consciousness,  
  
with no luck. "OK, hopefully your subconscious will hear me. We're like less  
  
then one ledge away from going home." She stopped. Did she just call Angel  
  
Grove home? No.....No way, Angel Grove was just a rest stop for the next 2  
  
years of her life. The moment she would turn 18, her plans were to jump on a  
  
Harley and ride into the sunset. And besides, Trecho Valley was home. Home was  
  
sitting by campfires on summer nights with Silver Bison, smelling the smoke  
  
from his pipe and hearing the cackling flames. Home was swimming in the lake  
  
with George on hotter then usual days.......Well, not necessarily with George  
  
per say anymore. She sighed. Angel Grove was not home. Aunt Kimberly was  
  
not home. Mom and dad are home she told herself. But mom and dad are dead.   
  
Another voice said. She looked down as tears stung her eyes.  
  
"Hey?" She gasped as she heard Brad's voice. She looked at him and tried  
  
her best to hide her tears.   
  
"Ah, sleeping ugly finally awakes." She joked. Brad smiled. He weakly  
  
tried to get up, but couldn't. He groaned and fell back.  
  
"Great, my arm's still screwed up." CJ sighed and gently pushed him up.  
  
"I told you, it's probably broken."  
  
"Wonderful." He sighed.   
  
"Well, good news." She said semi brightly.  
  
"I know...I heard." He said. "Almost there."   
  
"Hmm, guess you've got one powerful subconscious." She mused. Brad laughed.  
  
"You mean aside from my other superb qualities?" He joked.  
  
"Such as?" She smirked.   
  
"Hey." He said in mock offendance. "I'll have ya know, I ooze with  
  
greatness." He said.  
  
"Sure, whatever." CJ rolled her eyes. "The only thing you're oozing, babe,  
  
is utter annoyance." She couldn't help casting him a flirtaous smile.  
"By  
  
the way, if you have the urge to pass out again, hold it in until we get  
  
home." There she went calling Angel Grove home again...It wasn't home. It  
  
wasn't. Brad smirked.  
  
"Why Miss Martinez, are you flirting with me?" He asked. CJ rolled her eyes  
  
and shoved him off of her as she stood up.  
  
"Yeah, you wish." She brushed dirt off the seat of her jeans. Brad looked  
  
at her. Well, he thought, actually, yeah I do wish. "Let's go." She said.   
  
Brad tried to get up. CJ sighed and helped him. They walked up the final  
  
ledges. They stood before the glowing orb. CJ looked at it. "It's  
  
beautiful." She said as she gazed at the orb. Brad looked at her. Not as  
  
beautiful as you. He thought. He shook his head. Dude, you are not  
  
developing a...............a thing for this girl...........You're not....It's  
  
out of the question. CJ looked at him. "Shall we?" She asked, extending  
  
her arm towards the portal. Brad looked at her and at the portal.   
  
"Yeah, lets go." He walked over to her and took her hand. She looked at  
  
him. "To make sure we stay together." He explained. CJ nodded. The two  
  
stood before the portal.  
  
"So....Do we just....Jump on in?" CJ asked. Brad shrugged.   
  
"I guess."   
  
"Alright. Let's jump on in." She said with mock enthusiasm. Brad  
  
chuckled. The two stepped back slightly.  
  
"Alright, on 3...." Brad said. "1...."   
  
"2......" CJ said.  
  
"3!" Both yelled out as they charged at the portal.   
  
The moment they entered the portal, they felt a sudden gush of wind.   
  
The transparent colors surrounded them. The colors all suddenly became aqua  
  
color.   
  
"Whoa." CJ looked around. Brad looked around as well.  
  
"Yeah, whoa." Suddenly, there was a strong force around them. CJ screamed.  
  
The force made it hard to breath.  
  
"Brad!" She shrieked out. Brad tried to hold on to her hand, but the force  
  
was pushing him away.   
  
"CJ, hold on!" Brad yelled over the force. Their hands flew apart. "CJ!"   
  
The force made it hard for Brad to see CJ.  
  
CJ screamed when she felt Brad's hand leave hers. She raised her arms  
  
up to her face and chest to try to keep the impact of the force away from  
  
her. She heard Brad yell her name. She tried to yell for him, but the force  
  
was making it hard for her to even breath, let alone speak.   
  
  
  
Trini walked over to Kimberly.   
  
"Hey." She said. Kimberly forced a weak smile.  
  
"Hey."  
  
"Are you ok?" She asked. "I mean....Ever since you and Tommy came back from your talk...You've seemed....out of it." She looked at Kimberly, she lowered  
  
her voice. "Did you tell him about-"  
  
"No." Kimberly cut in. "I didn't. I was going to but I just started crying  
  
again." Trini looked at her friend. She sighed.  
  
"Have you found a doctor?" She asked. Kimberly gave her a look.  
  
"I don't need one."  
  
"Kim, the last time we talked on the phone, you were upset about it again."  
  
"It was just a fleeting moment, alright? I mean, it's been seven years,  
  
Trini. I think I've gotten over it." Kimberly said defensively. Trini put  
  
her hands up.  
  
"Hey, hey, cool it." She said. "I'm just worried about you, alright?"   
  
Trini said. Kimberly sighed.   
  
"I know. But you don't need to worry about it. Right now, I've got plenty  
  
on my plate, what with holding a job at Ernie's and raising a 16 year old  
  
girl." She smiled.   
  
"You got a job at Ernie's?" Trini asked with a smile. "I heard he was back  
  
and had opened a place. How is he?"  
  
"He's....Well, he's Ernie." Kimberly said. Trini laughed. Kimberly and  
  
Trini laughed together.  
  
Billy watched as his two old friends laughed together. He smiled to  
  
himself as nostalgia hit him.   
  
"When did you come back to earth?" Came a voice. Billy looked up to Tommy.   
  
He sighed. He knew Tommy would be hurt if he told him he's been back for  
  
seven years already and hadn't tried to contact him.   
  
"Seven years." He said. Tommy looked at him.   
  
"Oh." He nodded, trying to hide the hurt from his voice. "What happened? I  
  
thought you and Cestra were very happy together." Billy looked down.  
  
"Uhm.....Well, actually, Cestra and I ended things." He said. Tommy looked  
  
at him.  
  
"Oh...." Tommy wanted to ask what had happened, but he didn't want to pry.   
  
Billy could tell he wanted to know. He looked at his friend.  
  
"She realized that my heart was to another." He said lowly. Tommy looked at  
  
him. He knew the topic bothered him so he decided to drop it.  
  
  
  
Brad fought to find CJ. His arm was killing him. It doesn't matter.   
  
He thought to himself. CJ's all that matters.  
  
"CJ!" He said at the top of his lungs.  
  
"CJ!" She heard Brad scream. She opened her mouth and tried to  
  
breath in a lungful of air, but it was hard. She screamed with as much air  
  
as she could.  
  
"Brad! Brad I can't breath!" She screamed.  
  
At the moment Brad heard this, his heart froze.   
  
"CJ! Hang on!" Brad fought harder. He finally saw her huddle on the floor  
  
of the portal gasping for air. He reached her. "CJ!" He knelt by her and  
  
threw his arms around her as the force fought to keep them apart. "Just hold  
  
on. I'll get you out of here." He said to her. Suddenly the force stopped.  
  
CJ took a lungful of oxygen. Brad looked at her. "You all right?" He  
  
asked. CJ nodded.  
  
"You?"   
  
"My arm's hurting a little, but I'll live." He offered a smile. CJ laid her  
  
head against his good shoulder.   
  
"God, I was so freaked." She said softly. Brad stood up and helped her to  
  
her feet.   
  
"So was I. Let's get out of here." He said. CJ nodded. Brad put his arm  
  
around her shoulders. CJ looked at him. "Uh......To make sure we stay  
  
together." He replied lamely. CJ nodded and wrapped her arms around his  
  
waist. Brad's heart sped up at the feel of her so close. He closed his  
  
eyes. Quit it! She's just a girl, and you don't, I repeat, DON'T have a  
  
thing for her, he told himself. They began to walk around, hoping to find a  
  
way out of the portal. There was another strong force, but this time, it  
  
came from behind them, almost pushing them. There was a flash of bright  
  
light, then they where hurled, sliding onto a cold, metal floor.   
  
  
  
Alda, Billy, Keith, Kendra, Kimberly, Quinn, Raffie, Tommy, Trini and  
  
Tyrell where in the Zega Station when suddenly a orb appeared in the center  
  
of the Station. A big gush of wind surrounded the room.   
  
"What's going on?" Quinn asked. Tyrell instinctively took Quinn's arm,  
  
afraid the orb was something that would suck them in or something.  
  
"It's the portal." Alda said. In a flash of light, two bodies where thrown  
  
across the floor, and then the orb, and wind disappeared. The room was silent.   
  
  
  
CJ and Brad glided across the floor. Brad had landed on his bad arm  
  
and CJ was on top of him. CJ looked up. She saw everyone.  
  
"Uhm, hey guys." She said. She looked down at Brad and saw he was out  
  
again. She got off of him quickly. "Brad?"  
  
"CJ!" Kimberly rushed over and wrapped her arms around her niece. CJ looked  
  
at her. For some reason, she was flooded with the incredible urge to hug her  
  
aunt. She threw her arms around Kimberly and hugged her. "I'm so glad  
  
you're alright." Kimberly said to her as she held her tightly. Keith saw  
  
his friend, unconscious, with his arm in some sort of sling.   
  
"Brad?" He went over to his friend. CJ let go of Kimberly and looked up at  
  
Keith as he knelt by his friend.   
  
"Uhm, some Zimoids attacked us, they.....I uhm....think they broke his arm."   
  
CJ said rapidly. Keith looked at her. "I had to use my sweatshirt to keep  
  
him from moving it."   
  
"Raffie, have him taken to the infirmary." Alda said.   
  
"Yes, Alda." The little robot disappeared down the hallway on the side of the  
  
station and came back with a stretcher. He wheeled it over to Brad. CJ and  
  
Keith picked him up and placed it on it. Raffie wheeled Brad away. CJ  
  
watched him as he disappeared. She glanced at Alda.  
  
"Will he be alright?" She asked.  
  
"Yes, Carla-Jane." Alda reassured the girl. "Raffie will look at the damage  
  
of Brad's arm, and if it is broken, will use the healing beams." CJ nodded.   
  
She felt a hand on her arm. She looked to see Quinn standing next to her.  
  
"Are you alright?" She asked. CJ's hair was matted to her forehead, her  
  
black sweatpants where wet and clung to her legs, and her body was covered in  
  
dirt and sweat.  
  
"Yeah," CJ sighed. "Just give me a long shower and let me sleep 'till next  
  
year and I'll be sane as rain." She smiled. Quinn and Kendra laughed.   
  
Kimberly looked at her.  
  
"Maybe we should get you home." She said. CJ looked at her. She nodded.  
  
"Yeah, that'd be great."   
  
"Carla-Jane." Came Alda's voice. CJ looked at her. "After you feel fully  
  
up for it, please come back so I may speak with you." CJ looked at her. She  
  
numbly nodded.   
  
"Uhm, yeah, sure." She said. Kimberly took CJ in her arms. "What?"  
  
"OK, just so you know, this might feel a little weird."  
  
"What?" CJ asked.   
  
"This." Kimberly pressed a button on her communicator and the two disappeared  
  
in a beam of purple light.   
  
  
  
The two appeared in the living room of their house.  
  
"Whoa!" CJ exclaimed. She fell back, bracing herself against the wall.   
  
"What a rush!" She grinned. "I mean, before, I was too freaked out by the  
  
earthquake to really take into account what was going on." Kimberly smiled  
  
at her niece. CJ scratched her head. "Augh." She groaned. "I better go  
  
shower before livestock starts forming in my hair." She said. Kimberly  
  
smiled.  
  
"All right. Well, the toiletries are in the box marked-"  
  
"Let me guess, toiletries?" CJ grinned. The two laughed together. CJ  
  
disappeared up the stairs.  
  
  
  
CJ sat in The Groove. She had washed her hair, with the blue streaks  
  
coming out, but was too tired to redo the streaks. She wore cut off jeans  
  
and a blue shirt. She sipped on a blueberry smoothie.  
  
"Oooo, somebody call heaven." Gave a voice. "Because I think they're  
  
missing an angel." CJ looked up to see a guy in jeans, polo shirt and  
  
letterman's jacket.  
  
"Oh some body catch me, I think I'm falling for that horrible line." CJ said sarcastically. She sighed. The guy walked over and sat next to her.   
  
"How ya doing sweetie?" He smiled at her.  
  
"Call me sweetie and you'll need a proctologist to remove my foot." She said  
  
in a mock sweet voice. The guy grinned.  
  
"Ooo, feisty, I like feisty girls." He said.   
  
Brad, Keith, Kendra, Tyrell, and Quinn walked into The Groove and took  
  
a seat at a table.   
  
"Oh, there's CJ." Kendra said, pointing to her. Brad looked over and saw  
  
her talking with Cooper Harelson.  
  
"Oh great, Cooper's gotten a new target." Quinn said, her voice oozing with  
  
disgust.   
  
CJ saw the others not so far away. She looked at the guy; he had his  
  
face dangerously close.   
  
"The name's Cooper." He said into her ear. He ran his hand over her exposed  
  
leg. "That's so you know what to scream out later on." CJ looked at him.   
  
She grabbed his and bent it backward. "Ah!" He yelled out in pain.  
  
"Name's CJ." She said. "That's so you know who'll kick your butt if you  
  
touch her ever again." She let him go and grabbed her drink. She walked  
  
over to the others. "Hey." She said. "Mind if I sit with you guys?" Brad  
  
quickly grabbed a chair from an empty table. CJ smiled and sat down. They  
  
all looked at her.   
  
"You do realize that you just almost broke the arm of the QB, right?" Keith  
  
asked. CJ looked up.   
  
"Oh, don't tell me a lynch mob's going to come get me for ruining the  
  
football team's chance at a stupid championship." Kendra and Quinn laughed.  
  
"No, I think you'll be honored as a Goddess by the main female populous of  
  
school." Kendra joked. CJ laughed.  
  
"Hmmm, Goddess. Has a nice sound to it." She smiled. They all began  
  
chatting and joking as if they were all age-old friends. CJ looked at Brad.   
  
"How's your arm?" She asked. Brad looked at her.   
  
"Oh, uhm, great." He smiled. He wasn't about to tell her he still had her  
  
sweatshirt. There was a light beep sound. CJ looked up.   
  
"What's that?" She asked.  
  
"Oh, uh, it's our communicators. I remember Alda told us to come get you."   
  
Keith said lowly.  
  
"Oh." They all stood up and walked to a hidden corner of the Groove.   
  
Kendra, Keith, Tyrell, and Quinn all disappeared in flashes of pink, white,  
  
black and yellow. Brad looked at CJ.  
  
"Guess it's just you and me." Brad joked. CJ smiled. Brad took CJ in his  
  
arms and touched his communicator. The two disappeared in a flash of red.  
  
Alda looked at all the rangers, and CJ. She finally narrowed her eyes  
  
at CJ.   
  
"Well," She started. "Carla-Jane, your inner strength, and fierceness and  
  
your warrior within causes me to ask you, are you sure, in your decision of  
  
not receiving the Zega powers?" She asked. CJ looked at her.   
  
"Well, I..." She stopped slightly. "Well, I've already had to fend off  
  
Zimoids and that hag Moldara, might as well be able to get to do that on a  
  
regular basis with the added bonus of being a Zega Ranger." She laughed.   
  
Alda smiled, glad that this was her decision.   
  
"Good." She said. "Fierce, wild and strong Carla-Jane." Alda started.   
  
"You're wild, yet, centered spirit allows you to fight strongly for what is  
  
right, and protect those who you care about. You have the power of the  
  
Phoenix." CJ looked down at her belt buckle, sure enough, there was the coin,  
  
etched with an eagle.  
  
"Awesome." She smiled. Kimberly hugged her.   
  
"Welcome to the team, sweetie." She smiled.  
  
"Yeah, better late then never." Kendra joked.  
  
"Call it fashionably late." CJ said, with an exaggerated flip of her hair.   
  
They all laughed. I guess I am home. CJ thought to herself. Yeah, this,  
  
Aunt Kim, Zega Rangers, Angel Grove, guess it's all home now. She smiled to  
  
herself. Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.   
  
End Of Episode 4.  
  
Hey. Well, here's a little teaser line to episode 5 "Being a Family."  
  
CJ raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know we were supposed to not hurt the henchmen of an evil monarch set to destroy our planet." She said sarcastically. 


	5. Episode 5, Being a Family

Name: Zega Rangers  
  
Episode: Being a Family  
  
Summary: As the new rangers gear up to continue the fight against Grasta, one of them feels out of place.   
  
CJ walked into Tommy's dojo. She saw Keith, Brad and Tommy fixing it. The "earthquake" which had been caused by Empress Grasta and slightly left the place a bit of a mess. CJ couldn't believe it was all just a few days ago. A few days ago where she became the blue ranger.   
  
"Hey, Ceej, you going to help us here or not?" Keith asked, tearing her from her thoughts. CJ flinched at bit. Ceej. Ceej..............She looked at him.  
  
"Yeah." She walked over to help him with the weights. "And don't ever call me Ceej." Keith looked at her and slightly shrugged. Brad walked over to her. He lightly tapped her on the shoulder. She turned and faced him and smiled lightly.   
  
"Hey." He said.  
  
"Hey." She responded. "How's your arm?" She asked.   
  
"Oh, well, perfect, actually, those ray things that Raffie used on me made it like it was never broken."  
  
"Those robot creatures and their advanced healing technology." Keith joked, shaking his head.   
  
  
  
Kimberly stood behind the counter of The Groove. Quinn walked over and sat on a stool.   
  
"Hey Kim." She said brightly. Kimberly smiled at the young girl.  
  
"Hey Quinn, what's up?" She asked.  
  
"I'm supposed to be meeting Kendra here in fifteen minutes. We're planning on-" She stopped herself. Kimberly looked at her.  
  
"Planning on what?" She asked. Quinn looked at her, her face was scrunched up in a guilt-ridden expression. She had let too much of the cat out of the bag to stop now. She sighed.  
  
"Kendra, Keith, Tyrell, Brad and I are planning on throwing CJ a kind of 'welcome to Angel Grove' party. The guys are the diversion team at the moment. They've got CJ over at Tommy's place." Kimberly looked at her. "And, well, we didn't want to tell you because....Well, she's your niece and this is supposed to be a surprise party, and we didn't want you to feel compelled to tell her about it since she's family."  
  
"And since we live under the same roof."  
  
"Well, yeah." Quinn said. Kimberly smiled.  
  
"Well, I can guarantee that I won't tell her." She said. Quinn sighed in relief. "So, where are you going to have this shindig?" She asked.   
  
"Brad's in the process of begging his mom to have it at his place, but it isn't coming out too good."  
  
"Well, what do you know," Kimberly said nonchalantly. "I just happen to be the worker and good friend of the owner of this teen hot spot who would be happy to let you use it for the party." Quinn looked at her.  
  
"Do you really think Ernie would let us have the party here? I mean, wouldn't that deter away the clientele?" Kimberly laughed.  
  
"Listen, I remember when Trini, Billy and I were around your age, we planned a surprise for our friend, and...well," she lowered her voice, "then black ranger, Zack," she spoke normally again, "and Ernie let us have the party here, and let us stay here late after closing to work on decorations and such." Kendra came rushing in, with shopping bags in her arms. She sat down next to Quinn, trying to catch her breath.  
  
"Hey girl, sorry I'm late." Kendra said. "But there-"  
  
"Was a huge sale in the mall?" Quinn asked.  
  
"Yeah, how'd ya guess?"  
  
"Well, A, the shopping bags gave you away, and B, it's been routine for you ever since we were kids." Quinn smiled.   
  
"So, I was just telling Quinn that Ernie would love to let you guys have the party here." Kendra looked at her. She looked at Quinn.  
  
"You told her about the party?"  
  
"Well, yea." Quinn said.  
  
"Oh." Kendra said.  
  
  
  
"A party?" Empress Grasta sat on her throne, watching the three girls. "The little brats are planning a party. Why wasn't I invited?"  
  
"Well, perhaps it's because you're the enemy, mistress." Lonf said. Grasta rolled her eyes.  
  
"I know that you idiot. I was being sarcastic." Grasta sighed. "Incompetent fool. It's no wonder why your Zimoids weren't enough to destroy those annoying new rangers." Lonf lowered his head in shame.   
  
"Well, actually, I have been working on a monster." This caught her attention. She swiveled her throne to face him.  
  
"Do tell."  
  
  
  
Trini was busy working in the bookstore. She rang up a woman's purchase. She handed the woman her bag of books.   
  
"Here you go." The woman smiled and took her bag.  
  
"Thank you." Trini returned the smile.  
  
"Have a nice day." The woman left. Trini looked down at the cash register. She was about to greet her next customer, only to have her breath catch in her throat. "Billy, hey." She said. Billy stood before her with a book. Billy smiled lightly.   
  
"Hey." Trini stuck her hand out to take his book. Billy gave it to her.   
  
"So, we haven't really had the chance to talk." Trini said. Billy looked at her. She wants to talk, he thought to himself. That's good.   
  
"No, we haven't."  
  
"I mean, we haven't seen each other in years, and then we just pop back into each other's lives, and we've yet to like talk about what exactly been up in our lives."  
  
"Yeah." He said.   
  
"I mean, I remember how close we were when we were kids, it'd be nice to have that again." Trini rang his book up.  
  
"Right. I totally agree." He said. He took a deep breath. "Maybe we can talk, over, um, dinner, or coffee, and-"   
  
"There she is. The most beautiful woman in the universe." Came a voice. Trini blushed slightly and looked down, hiding a smile. A tall, slim man with brown hair in a buzz cut walked over and stood right next to Billy, looking at Trini.   
  
"Nate, I'm in the middle of working." Trini scolded playfully. Billy looked back and forth between the two. Trini sighed and looked over at Billy. "Billy, this is Nathan. Nathan, this is an old friend of mine, Billy." Nathan looked at Billy. He stuck his hand out. Billy took it.  
  
"Nice to meet ya, Billy." Nathan said as he shook Billy's hand.  
  
"Affirmative." Billy said. Nathan looked at him.  
  
"Affirmative?" He gave a deep laugh. "Who in the world talks like that, except well, geeky scientists or geeky science teachers."  
  
"Nate!" Trini hissed.   
  
"Well, I'll pass that little thought to the fellow geeky science teachers at Angel Grove High." He said, forcing a smile. He looked at Trini. "I'll see you around Trini." Trini nodded and handed him his book. He turned and went to walk out.  
  
"Yeah, see you around Billy." Nathan called out.   
  
"Dear God, I hope not." Billy muttered to himself as he walked out. Trini looked at Nathan. She smacked his arm.  
  
"Ow." He said.  
  
"That wasn't very nice." She said.  
  
"What? How was I supposed to know that? It's not like the guy's wearing a nametag saying 'hi, I'm a geeky science teacher.' Cut me some slack." Trini looked at him.  
  
"He's not a geek." She said softly.  
  
  
  
"So, what was it like?" CJ asked Brad. The two where walking around Angel Grove Park together.  
  
"What was what like?" He asked. He looked at her. It was his turn to do whatever he could to keep her away from the party planning, so he figured he'd give her a slight tour of Angel Grove.   
  
"You know." She said. "The morphing." Although CJ had the power, she had yet to have a chance to morph into the Blue Ranger. He looked ahead of them and saw a park bench. He led her over to it and they both sat down. "I mean, what did it feel like? What did it look like? Heck, what did it smell like?" Brad smiled at her eagerness.   
  
"It felt sort of weird at first, I mean, none of us, except for your aunt, Tommy, Trini and Mr. Cranston knew what to expect."  
  
"Yeah. They were part of the rangers back in the 90's. Aunt Kim told me."  
  
"Yeah. Apparently earth has more things then the ozone layer to be worried about."  
  
"Butt ugly armor wearing beasts for one thing." CJ said. Brad was about to say something when they heard screaming. They stood up. "What's going on?" She asked.   
  
"It came from over by the costume shop." Brad said. The two ran off to it. They stopped suddenly when they saw a bunch of Zimoids terrorizing the customers. Brad pulled CJ behind a tree with him so that the Zimoids wouldn't see them. "Crap." He sighed. "We're gonna need back up." He looked at her. "Get the others on the communicator, I'll get rid of as many as I can now." He said. He went to go fight the Zimoids.   
  
"I don't think so." CJ said. She grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him back. "You call the others, and let me have some fun." She grinned. And with that, she was off. Brad sighed and began to get the others.  
  
Tyrell, Keith and Tommy were finishing up with the dojo when they're communicators went off. Tommy looked up. The other two went over to him. Tommy touched the button on his communicator.   
  
"Tommy here." He said.  
  
"Guys, it's me. Listen; there are a bunch of Zims over at Earl's costume shop. More then CJ and I can handle." Came Brad's voice.  
  
"All right, we'll be there in a sec." Keith said.   
  
"All right."  
  
CJ landed a snap kick in a Zimoid's mid section.   
  
"Is that the best you can do? Jeez." She laughed. She was about to go off and beat some more Zimoids when one grabbed her from behind. "Hey!" She tried to get out of its grip. "Hands off buddy." She threw her head back, slamming it into the Zimoid's. It disintegrated. Brad kicked one in the midsection; it fell against a tree and disintegrated. CJ rounded off a tree kicking two Zimoids in the process. Before they knew it, all the Zimoids where gone.  
  
"I thought you needed help." Came a voice. CJ and Brad turned to see Tyrell, Tommy, and Keith.  
  
"I thought we did." Brad said, trying to catch his breath. He looked over at CJ, who calmly was pulling a strand of hair that had come out of her hair clip in midst of the fight behind her ear.   
  
"Well, it seems like we didn't." CJ shrugged. And with that she left. The four guys looked at each other with confused looks on their faces.  
  
  
  
"So she just took most of those guys on her own?" Quinn asked. Keith, Tyrell, Quinn, Kendra, Brad, and Kimberly were sitting in The Groove, making preparations on the party. Brad nodded. Quinn raised her eyebrows.  
  
"What's her deal? First she won't touch the ranger powers with a 10 foot pole, now she's turned into a fighting machine." Tyrell said. Kimberly sighed.  
  
"She's going through a tough time. You need to understand that." She said, although she was starting to get worried about her niece.  
  
"Kimberly's right." Kendra said. "I mean, her parents past away not even two months ago, how'd you feel if you had the same circumstances?" The others where silent for a moment.   
  
"Kenny's right." Tyrell said. Kendra shot him a look. "What?"  
  
"I told you I hate it when you call me that." She said. Tyrell smirked.  
  
"Call you what?" He teased. Kendra smacked him upside the head. Tyrell chuckled as he rubbed his head. Quinn rolled her eyes. She looked at Kimberly.   
  
"You'd think that at 16, these two would quit acting like squabbling 5 year olds." She said. Keith laughed. Kendra sighed.  
  
"Anyway." She said, trying to bring the conversation to the topic at hand. "How are the party doings going on?" She asked, looking at the others.  
  
"Well, after begging, pleading, promising to do his chores for a week and all out bribery, I finally got Tony to be the DJ." Quinn said.  
  
"Tony?" Kimberly asked.  
  
"Quinn's older brother." Kendra explained,   
  
"But having a DJ won't help if we don't have a place to hold the shin-dig. I don't think Tony would like to set up his equipment in thin air." Tyrell said.   
  
"He won't." Kendra said. "We asked Ernie, and he said we can have the party here." She said.   
  
"Awesome." Keith said. "Now who is coming to the party, invitation wise?" He asked.  
  
"Well there's us." Quinn said.  
  
"Tommy, Trini, and Billy." Kimberly added on.   
  
"And CJ." Brad said.   
  
"Right, but who else?" Keith asked.   
  
"I guess all those who want to be here." Kendra shrugged. Quinn looked at her.  
  
"You mean an open invite party?" She asked. Kendra nodded. "Are you sure you wanna do that?"   
  
"Yeah, why not?"  
  
"You are aware that by doing that, it means anyone can attend." Quinn said. Kendra looked at her friend incredulously.  
  
"Really?" She said sarcastically. "Ya don't say."  
  
"I just mean that there are some people we may not want in the same room as us, or same universe."   
  
"Like Cooper." Brad said. His voice held a strong disgusted edge. For some reason he couldn't get the image of Cooper putting his smarmy hands on CJ the other day out of his head.   
  
"Among other people." Quinn said.  
  
"And Cooper would be.....?" Kimberly asked.  
  
"He's this guy who tried to flirt with CJ." Tyrell explained. "Let's just say he'll think twice before doing any kind of unwanted touching." Kimberly raised her eyebrows.  
  
"Excuse me?" She asked.   
  
"He touched CJ's leg and she nearly broke his arm." Quinn said. Kimberly looked at her.  
  
"Are you serious?" Quinn nodded.   
  
"Why?"   
  
"Well, CJ's always has stood up for herself, and at times gotten slightly violent but never to that extreme." The others looked at her. Brad thought for a second. He looked at Keith.   
  
"Remember the day we met her. She was in Tommy's dojo and beating the stuffing out of the punching bag?" He asked. Keith nodded.   
  
"But isn't that the point of a punching bag? To beat it?" Kendra asked.  
  
"Yeah, but she was like, in a zone or something. She didn't even know we where there until Tommy grabbed the punching and talked to her." Keith said.  
  
"So, now we're planning a party and a intervention to tell CJ to cut out the psycho violent tendencies?" Tyrell asked.  
  
  
  
CJ sat on the sofa in the living room in her house. One of the three pieces of furniture the dumb movers had managed to ship to them already. At the moment she was still sleeping on a sleeping bag in her room. She took off her reading glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose, taking a break from her history homework. She sighed and put them back on, tapping her pen against her notebook. There was a knock on the door. She set her notebook and textbook aside and went to answer the door. She opened it and was surprised to see Brad standing there.   
  
"Brad, hey." She said. Brad looked at her.  
  
"You wear glasses?" He said. CJ laughed and took them off.  
  
"Contacts." She said. "I just felt like not wearing them right now. You want to come in, or are you good with admiring the floorboards on the front porch?" She joked. Brad laughed.   
  
"Uh yeah...I mean, yeah to the first one." CJ smiled and stepped aside to let him in. She shut the door behind him.  
  
"What's up?" She asked. Brad looked at her.  
  
"Are you OK?" He asked. CJ furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.  
  
"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" She asked.  
  
"Well, I....." He scratched his head. "Everyone's kinda worried and-"  
  
"Worried?" CJ asked. "About me?"   
  
"Uhm yeah." He said. "We're just worried that......you might be upset and need to talk about some stuff.....Ya know..." Brad stammered. CJ looked at him. She crossed her arms and leaned her weight on her right leg.   
  
"I'm not." She said simply. Brad looked at her.   
  
"CJ, don't say that. I saw you today, you whaled on those Zimoids." CJ raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know we were supposed to not hurt the henchmen of an evil monarch set to destroy our planet." She said sarcastically. Brad sighed, knowing he was beginning to piss her off, which was not what he wanted to do.   
  
"CJ-"  
  
"Tell you what Brad," she said as she opened the door. "Next time you and the others have a secret meeting talking about me behind my back, tell them to mind their own business." She said coldly. Brad looked at her.  
  
"Ceej, don't be like that. We're just concerned." She narrowed her eyes angrily.  
  
"Get out." She said lowly. "You don't even know me, so don't try to give me some bull about how you're so concerned." Brad winced at her harsh tone.   
  
"Listen-"  
  
"Get out." She repeated. Brad sighed.   
  
"All right." He walked out. CJ slammed the door.  
  
  
  
The others where waiting for Brad in The Groove. Tyrell spotted Keith as he lifted some weights, Kendra and Quinn where sitting at a table talking, and Kimberly stood behind the counter.   
  
"89." Tyrell said, counting Keith's bench presses. "Come on Keith, just got 45 more and you'll break the record of presses with 200lbs." Kendra looked over at the two.   
  
"Ty, watch out, I don't want my boyfriend's arms falling off." She said. Quinn laughed. Kimberly looked at the entrance and saw Brad enter.   
  
"Hey." She said. The others looked over. Keith placed the weights on the holder. The entire group sat at a table. "How'd it go?" Kimberly asked. Brad sighed.  
  
"Well, I've successfully managed to piss off a girl who could most likely kick my ass if she wanted too." He said.  
  
"What happened?" Quinn asked.   
  
"I'll tell you once I understand what happened. But something is defiantly wrong." He looked at the others. "Oh, by the way, chances are she's pissed and you guys too."   
  
"What? What'd we do?" Tyrell said defensively. Kendra smacked his arm.  
  
"What Ty means is, well, actually he does mean what'd we do." Quinn rolled her eyes.   
  
"So, something is wrong, now what?" Keith asked. The others sat in a confused silence.  
  
  
  
CJ walked around the bookshop. She was looking if they sold journals. Although, she didn't know why. She had stopped writing since what happened. Quit kidding yourself, said a voice in the back of her head. Your fingers are itching to write again. Just like they're itching to play the guitar again. No way, said another voice in her head. I'll never touch that damn guitar again. Not after what happened.   
  
"CJ?" Came a voice behind her. CJ turned around and saw Trini. She smiled slightly.  
  
"Trini, hey." She said. Crap, she thought. After her little chit chat with Brad, she was kind of hoping to not have to run into any one else that she well, knew. At least for an hour or two, just to have some alone time. Trini smiled back.  
  
"How are you?" She asked. CJ narrowed her eyes.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked. Trini raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Uh, I thought it meant 'how are you'" She said. "Are you all right?" She asked, slightly weirded by her jumpy-ness. CJ blinked and gave out a tired laugh. She rubbed her forehead.  
  
"God, sorry. I've just been kinda.........out of it lately." She said lamely. Trini nodded, understanding.   
  
"I know what you mean." She said. She looked over her shoulder to make sure no one was near by as she drew closer to CJ. "When I first became a ranger, back in the 20th century," she said with a smile. "I was slightly confused and such at first. You know, it kind of revamped my entire world." CJ looked at her. My world was already pretty revamped as it was, she thought.  
  
"Right." CJ said. "That's it." Liar, she thought to herself. "Just kinda, need to get used to the idea of being a superhero." She said, forcing a convincing smile. "Say," she said. "Uhm, do you guys sell like blank journals here?" She asked. Trini gave her a strange looked and pointed past her shoulder. CJ turned around and saw a display case with a sign that said WRITING JOURNALS on it. It was filled with different colored journals. CJ laughed. "God, I am such a spaz." She said. She looked back at Trini. "Thanks." She said as she went to the display case.  
  
  
  
CJ sat in the living room, writing in her new journal. It had a blue laminated cover. On the cover, there was a picture of a star filled, moonlit sky in the dessert, with a beautiful eagle perched on a mountaintop. She had picked the journal because it looked like the dessert by the Native American reservation back in Arizona. It was nearly 8 when the front door opened. CJ looked up to see her aunt walk in, tossing her keys on the table by the door. Kimberly looked at her niece and gave her a smile.   
  
"Hey." She said. She walked over and sat next to CJ on the couch. "What's up?" She asked. CJ shrugged.   
  
"Nothing really." She looked at Kimberly. "What?" She asked. Kimberly's constant gaze was making CJ nervous.  
  
"I was just thinking," Kimberly said. "How'd you feel about us driving down to Arizona?" She asked, slightly pulling a strand of CJ's hair behind her ear. CJ looked at her. She gave her a quizzical look.  
  
"Why?" She asked.   
  
"Well, I thought you'd want to see your old friends, or, uhm, go see the ceme-" CJ stood up before Kimberly could finish.   
  
"What makes you think I have any intention of going back?" CJ snapped. Kimberly looked at her.  
  
"It's been almost two months since the accident, and, I want to see my sister, so, I thought you'd want to see your mother and father." CJ shook her head.  
  
"I don't." She went to her room. Kimberly sighed.  
  
  
  
Grasta let out a loud cackle. She looked at Lonf.   
  
"That monster is simply marvelous. Have you made it yet?" She asked. Lonf looked at her.  
  
"Actually, not quite yet."  
  
"Well, hurry up. Send it out as soon as possible." She said.  
  
"Well, it isn't that simple. It takes some time for it to be absolutely perfect your highness." Grasta's smile faded.  
  
"How long?" She asked.  
  
"A few......uhm.........err..........Earth months."  
  
"WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!"  
  
  
  
Tony Ling began setting up his equipment in the Groove. It was an hour before the party was going to begin.   
  
"I don't give a hoot if your friend is pissed at you. Either way, I am getting paid." Tony said, looking at Quinn. Quinn glared at him.  
  
"Shut up Tony." Tyrell laughed at seeing Quinn annoyed. She glared at him.  
  
"What's so funny, Ty?"  
  
"You." He said simply. She narrowed her eyes.  
  
"Kendra, hope you don't mind being an only child, cause I'm about to kill your brother." Quinn said. Kendra laughed.  
  
"Is that a promise?" She asked.  
  
"Very funny sis." Tyrell rolled his eyes. Trini looked at everyone.   
  
"You know, for a party, this is quite sad."  
  
"Yeah, where's the guest of honor?" Tommy asked. He stepped up on a stepladder and taped up some streamers.   
  
"She might not be coming." Kimberly sighed as she set out a bowl of punch. Tommy jumped down from the ladder and looked at her.  
  
"Why's that?" He asked. All eyes turned to Brad.  
  
"I...." He started. "Uhm, I'm gonna go see if I can find her." He said as he left.  
  
  
  
CJ walked about Angel Grove Park. She was deep in thought. Ever since her aunt suggested going to Arizona the night before, she's been wondering why she didn't want to go. Well, genius, you do know why. She thought to herself. It's quite simple: George, Roxanna, and the rest of Chill Climate are in Arizona. She sighed. She sat down on a rock in the park.  
  
"Oh, is little Ms. CJ sad?" Came a voice. CJ stood up with a start and turned.   
  
"Moldara." She said.  
  
"In the flesh." She sneered.  
  
"Here for another butt kicking?" CJ asked with a smirk. Moldara gave a frustrated growl and charged. CJ stepped back. She delivered a kick to Moldara's side. Moldara grabbed her foot and swept her other from under her. CJ launched herself up and kicked Moldara in the face. She flipped back unto her feet. Moldara pulled out her sword. CJ kept her fighting stance.   
  
"CJ!" Brad ran over. He stood by her in a fighting stance. "You OK?"  
  
"I'm fine." CJ said stubbornly. "I can take care of this chick on my own."  
  
"So good to hear that, dear." Moldara said. Instantly, Zimoids appeared. They charged toward CJ and Brad.  
  
"Ki-yah!" Brad round-housed one in the head. CJ spun around and flipped one over her shoulder. Two came her way. She jumped to the side of a tree to gain momentum and spun kicked both of them at the same time.   
  
"You know that that morpher isn't just for a fashion statement, right?" Brad said as he stood by her. CJ looked at him. She nodded. Brad held his morpher up.  
  
"Lion!" He yelled out. He transformed into his Zega suit. CJ held hers up.  
  
"Phoenix!" She yelled out. She morphed into a blue suit that had a Phoenix on the helmet. "Whoa, cool." She said, admiring the outfit. She looked up at Brad. "Think you can take care of these goonies while Moldara and I have a little chat?" She said, but didn't wait for his answer. She made her way to Moldara, kicking and punching any Zimoids that got in her way.   
  
"Ah, finally." Moldara said. CJ held a fighting stance.   
  
"Bring it on, Ugly." She said. Moldara went to slash her with her sword. CJ dodged it and punched Moldara in the gut.  
  
Brad fought the Zimoids. He wanted to get to CJ and Moldara. A Zimoid kicked him in the chest.   
  
"Ah." He fell against a tree. "Alda," He said into his communicator. "Moldara and some 'oids are here in the park." He fought to catch his breath.  
  
"Hold on, Brad, we're sending the others." Raffie said.  
  
Kendra, Quinn, Tyrell, Keith, Kimberly, Tommy, Trini and Billy were in the Groove. Tommy's communicator went off. He looked at the others. They all went to a secluded corner.   
  
"Tommy here, what's up?" Tommy asked.  
  
"Tommy, you and the others must get to the park immediately. CJ and Brad are in the park fighting off Moldara and some Zimoids."   
  
"Got it." Tommy looked at the others. "Well, let's go." They disappeared from the Groove in flashes of gray, purple, green, orange, black, pink, white and yellow. They appeared in the park, in full morph gear.   
  
"Ah yah!" Came CJ's voice. Kimberly looked up to see her fighting Moldara alone.   
  
"I'm going to go help CJ, you guys help Brad." She said. She back flipped towards Moldara and CJ.  
  
Moldara elbowed CJ in the chest, knocking the wind out of her. She fell down on her back. She towered over CJ. She raised her sword, ready to plunge it down into CJ's chest.  
  
"YAH!" Kimberly yelled out as she landed a flying kick to Moldara's chest. Moldara fell backwards. Kimberly bent next to CJ. "You ok?" She asked. CJ nodded.  
  
"Yeah, just had the wind knocked out of me." She said. Kimberly grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet. Moldara stood up. Kimberly looked at CJ.   
  
"I have an idea." She said. CJ seemed to know what she was thinking. She nodded, smiling. Kimberly grabbed onto CJ's forearms and lifted her up, spinning her towards Moldara. CJ landed on her feet and did the same for her aunt. Kimberly landed on her feet and did the same thing to CJ. CJ kicked Moldara in the chest then landed on her feet.  
  
"Yah!" The two yelled out as they both kicked Moldara in the midsection at the same time. Moldara fell back.   
  
"Whoo! Yes we rule." Kimberly said smiling. The two gave each other high fives. They made their way back to the others, who for the most part were doing all right with the Zimoids.  
  
  
  
Grasta watched the fight go on. She growled. She grabbed the growth serum Lonf had made centuries ago that proved very effective and useful in the Andoli dimensions. She injected the serum into a little seed.   
  
"Serum seed make my warrior grow." She said as she launched the seed to Moldara.  
  
The seed landed in Moldara's mouth. It worked immediately. She grew.   
  
"Whoa!" Tyrell said as he saw Moldara in her now giant status.  
  
"Time to break out the big guns." Tommy said. They called upon their Zegazords.   
  
Gigantic, robotic animals loomed from the horizon. A gray bear and white ape lead the group, a purple stag, green wolf, black cheetah, pink fox, yellow unicorn and red lion patted after it. An orange eagle and blue phoenix flew behind them. Each ranger flew up to his or her corresponding zord.  
  
"Just like old times, huh guys?" Tommy said to Kimberly, Billy and Trini.   
  
"Yeah." Trini said as she began getting acquainted with the new controls.  
  
"Absolutely." Kimberly said.  
  
"Affirmative." Billy said.  
  
"Whoa, now this is what I call serious car service." Tyrell joked. The ten zords came together and formed The Ultizega Zord.  
  
"We're going up." Brad said.  
  
"And Moldy's going down." CJ said.  
  
"You guys rehearse that or something?" Keith chuckled.  
  
"Bite me." CJ said sweetly.  
  
"Behave, children." Quinn reprimanded laughingly.  
  
"Amazing." Kendra said, absolutely captivated by all of this. They  
looked to Moldara who had begun destroying buildings in the Angel  
Grove plaza.   
  
"Guys, we have to get her away from all the people." Quinn said.  
  
"All ready on it." Trini said. The Ultizega Zord gripped Moldara's  
arm.  
  
"What the.....Hey! Get off me!" Moldara said.  
  
"Let's get out of here." Brad said. The Ultizega Zord flew towards  
an unpopulated dessert a few miles outside of Angel Grove, dragging  
Moldara with it. It dropped her on the dusty ground and floated down  
to its feet. Moldara stood up.  
  
"You're gonna pay for that." Moldara threatened. She slashed her  
sword at the Ultizega. It dodged the sword and kicked Moldara in the  
stomach. She fell back. She got up and was prepared to attack again,  
but vanished.  
  
"What the......Where'd she go?" Kendra asked.  
  
"Maybe she realized who she was up against and ran home in fear." CJ  
said.  
  
  
  
Moldara walked up to Grasta's throne.   
  
"Your highness." She said, kneeling down. "Why is it that you have  
called me back from battle?" She asked, trying to keep her anger for  
being pulled away from the fight in check. Grasta looked at her  
warrior.  
  
"The odds were terribly against you. You are my finest warrior, I  
couldn't risk harm coming to you." She said simply.  
  
"But, Mistress, I could've-"  
  
"Moldara, those who fight and run away, live to fight another day."   
Grasta said.  
  
  
"Guys, what's going on?" CJ asked. Kendra and Quinn had her  
blindfolded, leading her to The Groove.  
  
"You'll see in a sec." Kendra said. They stopped and pulled the  
blindfold off. CJ opened her eyes to see a dark Groove.   
  
"Uh, if this is the big thing, forgive my lack of excitement, I've  
seen The Groove before."   
  
"SURPRISE!" Everyone jumped up from under tables and such and flipped  
on the lights. The Groove was decorated with balloons, streamers, and  
a banner that read WELCOME CJ. CJ gasped. She looked at Quinn and  
Kendra who were grinning.  
  
"Guys? What's going on?" She asked.  
  
"It's a surprise 'welcome to Angel Grove party. Duh." Tyrell said as  
he, Keith and Brad walked over. She spun around and looked at them.  
  
"But.....How..........Why?" She asked. As much as she loved her  
friends back home, and how much they loved her, and how they all knew  
that they'd take a bullet for one another if it ever came to that,  
they never did anything like this for her.   
  
"We thought it'd be cool.......You know, just to have a big get  
together and celebrate the fact that your here." Brad shrugged,  
stuffing his hands in the back pockets of his jeans. He met her eyes  
and then looked down. CJ wanted to say something, perhaps apologize  
for the way she acted the other day, but was interrupted by Kimberly  
coming over and hugging her.  
  
"Hey honey." She said. "Come on, join the party, you are the guest  
of honor, ya know." Kimberly dragged CJ to the center of the room.   
CJ looked back at the others.  
  
  
  
An hour or so later, the party was going on in more then full swing.   
CJ had rejected Cooper's request to dance about five times already.   
Mostly because all his advances basically were asking for a dance plus  
something else. She stood by the food table, watching everyone  
dance. Someone put a hand on her shoulder. She groaned, just  
knowing it was Cooper.  
  
"Cooper, do you really want me to destroy any chance you have of  
producing little Coo-" She stopped when she turned around and saw it  
was Brad, not Cooper. "Oh, whoops." She grinned sheepishly. Brad  
smiled.  
  
"Man, with a threat like that, I thank god I'm not Cooper." He said.   
CJ laughed.   
  
"Sorry, he's just been-"  
  
"Yeah. Sorry, no one really wanted him here, but we kinda did an open  
invite thing." Brad said.  
  
"Hey, it's ok." CJ smiled. "Just make sure the boy stays far, far  
away from me." She said.  
  
"Oh, don't worry, I'll protect you." He laughed. CJ cocked her head  
to the side.  
  
"What makes you think I need protecting?" She smiled.  
  
"Oh, I know you don't, girl who nearly broke Cooper's arm when he  
touched her." He said. CJ's smile faded.  
  
"I nearly broke his arm?" She asked. "I thought I just...twisted  
it." Brad looked at her. *Oh, smart move, depress the girl when it's  
her party.*  
  
"Oh..Well, I mean, maybe I was just, uh, exaggerating." He said.   
  
"Yeah....I..I guess I don't know my own strength." She said, looking  
down. Brad took her hand.  
  
"Wanna dance? Or, well, you dance and watch me attempt to dance." He  
joked. CJ laughed.   
  
"OK." She smiled. They went to the center of the dance floor, where  
they found Quinn, Kendra, Keith and Tyrell dancing together in a  
group. Brad and CJ joined the group.  
  
  
  
Billy stood against the wall, watching the party around him. He  
looked up and saw Nathan approaching him. *Aw crap.* He thought. He  
put on a polite smile as the guy walked over.  
  
"Hey man." Nathan said.   
  
"Hey." Billy said.   
  
"Cool party." He said, leaning against the wall. "It'd be heck of a  
lot better with booze though." He added with a grin. Billy looked at  
him.  
  
"There are high schoolers here. I really don't think alcohol would be  
appropriate." Billy said. Nathan let out a deep chuckle.  
  
"Aw, you remember your first sip of the alkie, huh? I bet you were  
the age of these kids." He said.  
  
"Actually, other then champagne at weddings and new years eve parties,  
I waited till I was 21." He said. Nathan laughed, and then stopped  
when he realized Billy was serious.  
  
"Oh, jeez man. You really are a goody two shoes." He said. Billy  
narrowed his eyes. Nathan chuckled and clapped him on the back.   
"Which isn't a bad thing. I mean, the world needs someone to be the  
safe guys of the world. You know, the ones who when they were  
teenagers, the fathers of teenage girls could leave them with their  
daughters in a house alone and know nothing would happen." Billy  
looked at him. He was right, Billy was like that. He couldn't count  
the amount of times fathers would do that if he was over at a girl's  
house. But, he wasn't about to let Nathan know that. He just smiled  
good naturally. He looked over to see Trini over by the tables  
looking at them. He looked back at Nathan.  
  
"Trini asked you to come over here to talk to me, didn't she?" Billy  
said. Nathan looked at him.  
  
"Well, yeah. She kinda thought I should hang with ya. And with a  
body like that, how can ya refuse to do anything she asked?" He  
chuckled. Billy felt like punching him but just nodded.  
  
"I'll take your word on that, buddy." He said. Nathan nodded.  
  
"Well, see ya later." He walked over to Trini. Billy watched him go.  
  
"Don't worry, you're not the only one who thinks the guy's a royal  
duchebag." Came a voice. Billy turned around and saw Kimberly  
standing there.  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"Oh please, don't tell me you weren't thinking that." Kimberly  
smiled. Billy sighed, knowing he couldn't lie to Kimberly.   
  
CJ walked around the party. She went over to Ernie.  
  
"Hey, Ernie, have you seen my aunt?" She asked over the music.  
  
"Oh, she said she needed to take care of something." Ernie said.   
"And that you're supposed to catch a ride home with one of your  
friends." CJ looked at the crowd. She realized Trini, Billy, Tommy,  
and that guy Trini brought with her, Nate, were missing too.   
  
"Oh, well." She said.  
  
  
  
"Thanks for the lift." CJ said to Mrs. Washington, as she climbed out  
of the car.  
  
"See you later, sweetie." Kendra said.   
  
"Bye." Tyrell said.  
  
"Later." CJ waved as they drove away. She looked up the driveway of  
her house. She paused. Something was different. Not in appearance.   
More like a feeling. She shook it off and walked up. She opened the  
door and was greeted by a dark house. She closed the door and turned  
on the living room lights. She gasped. The living room had all the  
furniture, pictures hanging from the walls, everything.   
  
"You like?" Kimberly said, coming from the kitchen. CJ looked at  
her.  
  
"How....?"  
  
"The movers finally got the stuff here. Trini, Tommy, Billy and Nate  
left the party early with me and helped me get everything situated."   
She smiled. CJ looked at her. She went up to her room. Her bed was  
there, everything. It looked exactly like her room back in Arizona.   
Kimberly came up behind her.  
  
"I figured you'd like to have your room like before. I mean, if you  
want to change it, you always can." She said. CJ's eyes landed on  
the pictures on her dresser. She grabbed all the ones with George,  
and anyone else from Chill Climate and knocked them into a drawer.   
She looked at Kimberly.  
  
"Thanks." She smiled softly. Kimberly smiled. "Listen, I'm sorry."   
CJ said. "About how I've been acting. I guess, everything just feels  
weird. Everything's just like spinning, and....." Her voice trailed  
off as she collapsed on her bed. Kimberly sat next to her. CJ  
grabbed a picture of herself and her parents from the nightstand and  
looked at it. "I miss them so much." She said. Kimberly put an arm  
around her.  
  
"I know, baby, I know." She kissed the side of her niece's head and  
smoothed her hair down. "I miss them too."   
  
"I guess, I've just been feeling like I shouldn't be happy here." She  
said. "Like, being happy here means I'm forgetting mom and dad and I  
don't want to forget them. Or that being happy is hurting them.   
Like, it makes them think I wasn't happy with them."   
  
"Oh, honey, you'll never forget them." Kimberly said gently. "And, I  
think...no...I know that your parents are watching over you. Wanting  
you to be happy. Because, they love you, and if you're happy, they  
are happy."   
  
"I know." She said softly. She sighed. "Aunt Kim, about going to  
Arizona, I don't think I'm ready to do so, not ready to see mom and  
dad, and not ready to deal with some unresolved issues back there."   
Kimberly nodded.  
  
"I understand sweetie." She said softly. "I understand."  
  
  
  
CJ and Brad walked along the park.  
  
"So, you're OK?" Brad asked. CJ nodded.  
  
"Yeah." She smiled. "I am." She stopped and turned to face him.   
"Brad."  
  
"Hmm?" He asked.  
  
"Have I told you how much you mean to me?" She said. Brad looked at  
her.  
  
"Huh?" CJ slid his arms around his shoulders.  
  
"Since the day I met you, you've been so amazing to me. And I just  
want you to know how much I appreciate that." She said. Brad nodded.  
  
"OK." He said. CJ drew closer.  
  
"And, that, uhm, I think I'm in love with you." She whispered as she  
softly pressed her lips to his. Brad wrapped his arms around her  
waist. The two began heavily kissing.   
  
  
  
Brad sat up in his bed.  
  
"Whoa..." He breathed out. He looked up around his surroundings. He  
was in his room, in his sleepwear. It was just a dream........"It  
sure as hell didn't feel like a dream." He said. It was as if he  
could actually feel CJ's lips on his. He put his head in his hands.   
"I shouldn't be even dreaming about her lips." He sighed.   
  
End of Ep 5  
  
Teaser for ep 6: Man and Wife  
  
"Will you marry me?" 


	6. Man and Wife, part 1

Name: Zega Rangers Episode: Man and Wife Summary: The kids' social science class pairs them up for an experiment as Trini mulls over a decision she needs to make about Nate.  
  
CJ, Keith, Kendra and Tyrell sat in Mrs. Crawford's life studies class Monday morning.  
  
"Where's Brad?" CJ asked taking her seat as class began. Kendra shrugged.  
  
"I dunno." She said.  
  
"Class, today, we will begin working on a new experiment. This experiment will take us well into the year. We will be doing life simulations. In groups of two, male and female, I'd like you all to experience any hardships young married couples of this time go through. Now, I trust you all to be able to choose your own partners." She said.  
  
"Partners?" Keith said, looking at Kendra.  
  
"Yeah, you better be asking me." She smiled and held his hand under the table. CJ smiled at the two. Someone tapped at her shoulder. She turned around and Cooper sat, smiling at her.  
  
"Will you marry me?" He grinned, suggestively raising his eyebrows. CJ's face filled with disgust.  
  
"Uh......No..........I already got a 'husband.'" She said, she searched as her eyes landed on Tyrell, talking up a pretty blonde.  
  
"Who?" Cooper asked.  
  
"Ty!" Tyrell, at hearing his name, looked at CJ.  
  
"Huh?" He asked.  
  
"You're my 'husband.'" CJ said.  
  
"I am?" He asked. "Well....I was just about to ask Sandy....."  
  
"Dude, I swear, if you make me be Mrs. Cooper Harelson, I will kill you, no, I will disembowel you, then kill you, no, actually I'll castrate you, disembowel you, and then kill you." She whispered to her friend.  
  
"Well, when you put it that way.." Tyrell whispered. He laughed and threw an arm around CJ. "Of course I'm your husband, schmoopie pie." He said, somewhat loud and obnoxiously. Cooper rolled his eyes and then looked at the blonde Tyrell was just talking too, the two began talking. Tyrell saw this and groaned. "Aw man." He muttered.  
  
"Mr. Kensington, how good of you to show." Mrs. Crawford said as Brad walked into the classroom.  
  
"Sorry Mrs. Crawford." He said.  
  
"It's all right." She explained the experiment to him and told him to get a partner. He went over to his friends.  
  
"Hey guys." He said. He looked at CJ. "Need a husband?" He asked.  
  
"Nope, you're too late man, isn't that right Schmoopie pie?" Tyrell said, tickling CJ's chin. CJ elbowed him in the gut.  
  
"If you call me Schmoopie Pie one more time, I swear, I'll knock your teeth out."  
  
"Doesn't domestic violence get us an F?" Tyrell asked. CJ rolled her eyes. She looked at Brad.  
  
"Hey, it was either him, or Cooper." She said. Brad smiled and nodded, even if inside he was cursing himself for not hearing his alarm that morning and not getting to class on time.  
  
"Well, class, is everyone partnered up?" Mrs. Crawford asked.  
  
"Uh, no, I need a partner." Brad said.  
  
"So do I." Came a voice. Brad looked over and saw Val.  
  
"Well, then, you two can be together."  
  
"Aw, crap." Brad muttered.  
  
"Ecch, sorry bro." Tyrell said, patting his friend on the back. Brad stood up and sat next to Val.  
  
"I know pronounce you all, husbands and wives." Mrs. Crawford said. "You may now kiss the bride.......On the cheek." She added quickly. The last thing she needed was a class full of teenagers making out. Keith kissed his girlfriend on the cheek. Brad looked at Val.  
  
"Uh.." He said.  
  
"Ha, as if I need you ruining my makeup." She said. She gave out her hand. "We can shake hands." Brad shook her hand.  
  
"Trust me, that is fine by me." Brad said. Tyrell went to kiss CJ on the cheek. CJ placed a hand on his chest and pushed him away.  
  
"Unless you want to be the youngest man with dentures, I suggest you follow Brad's example and just shake my hand." She said.  
  
Nate and Trini sat at a coffee shop. It was her lunch break, and she was spending it with him, since he had just gotten back from some auditions in New York and she had missed him.  
  
"So, how were your auditions?" She asked. "What were they for, again?" She asked.  
  
"I auditioned for both the parts of Mark and Roger in Rent." He said. "They both went all right."  
  
"Well," she smiled. "I hope you get the part of Mark. I don't think I'll be too comfortable with you kissing some other girl who's Mimi, even if it is just acting." Nate laughed. He put a hand on hers.  
  
"I could kiss a hundred girls, and it still would be like kissing my grandma compared to kissing you." Trini's smile grew wider.  
  
"Nate. That's so sweet." She said as she bit into her veggie burger.  
  
"I love you." He said. Trini's eyes grew wide, she started coughing and choking on her veggie burger. "Oh God, honey, are you all right?" He asked. Trini took a sip of water. She let the burger go down her system and gave an embarrassed smile.  
  
"That veggie burger just kinda went down the wrong way." Trini said, patting her chest and coughing a little.  
  
"I still can't see how you can eat those things." Nate laughed.  
  
"Hey, I could say the same about that slab of poor Bessie the Cow on your plate." She said, pointing at his all beef burger.  
  
"Hey, my folks raised me as a meat and potatoes guy, I can't help it if being a carnivore is an unbreakable habit." He said. He looked at her. "You did hear what I said, right?" He asked.  
  
"About you being a carnivore?" She asked.  
  
"No. About me, loving you." He said. Trini looked down.  
  
"Uh, yeah." She said.  
  
"Well, aren't you-" His cell phone rang. Trini sighed. *Saved by the bell.......er......ring.* She thought to herself. Nate answered his phone. "Hello? Oh hey Maggie...........You.............What?" He asked. He looked at Trini. "It's my agent, she said she heard from the folks at Rent." He said. Trini nodded and watched him. Nate went back to talking to Maggie. "So, what's the deal? Are you serious? Oh my God, that's fantastic!" He said. Trini looked at him, whatever it was that Maggie had just said was making him ecstatic. "Oh, God, thank you, thank you." He smiled from ear to ear. "No problem. I can do that. All right, see you." He hung up the phone and looked at Trini. "You are now looking at the newest edition to the New York cast of Rent." He smiled. Trini smiled and hugged him.  
  
"Wow, Nate, that's fantastic." She said. "Who are you playing?" She asked.  
  
"Roger." He said. "As in the main lead." He smiled. Trini looked at him.  
  
"Wait." She said, her smile suddenly fading. "New York?" She winced.  
  
"So, after that he said he had to go and he paid the check and left me there." Trini sighed. She sat in Kimberly's living room. "He was so angry."  
  
"Well, Trins, you did kinda turn all non-supporto girl." Kimberly said. The two sat on Kimberly's couch, talking. Trini had come over after quitting time and told Kimberly the entire thing. She had seriously missed her friend. After she went to Switzerland and Kimberly went off to Florida, the two sort of drifted apart. They'd call eachother from time to time, but had lost the closeness they once had. So, being able to talk again was like a breath of air when you weren't breathing for a long time.  
  
"I know." Trini sighed. "Everything just changed. I mean, first he says he loves me, then he's making arrangements to move to New York."  
  
"Whoa!" Kimberly said. She looked at Trini. "You did not tell me Nate said he loves you."  
  
"Oh...Must've slipped my mind." She sighed.  
  
"Did you say it back?" Kimberly asked. Trini looked down. Kimberly's eyes widened. "You didn't say it back?!" She exclaimed.  
  
"Well, he took me by surprise. I choked on my veggie burger!" Trini said defensively.  
  
"You choked on your veggie burger?" Kimberly asked, cocking an eyebrow. "That must've been an interesting experience." Kimberly laughed. Trini threw a couch pillow at Kimberly's head.  
  
"You're one to talk, you haven't talked to Tommy yet." Trini said. Kimberly instantly shut up. Trini looked at her best friend. "Kim?" Kimberly looked down.  
  
"Oh God, I'm sorry." Trini said.  
  
"No.......It's OK........" Tears slid down Kimberly's cheeks. Trini hugged her.  
  
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that."  
  
"Yes, you did." Kimberly said. "And you're right, I should talk him. I will.........eventually."  
  
"You should." Trini said. "Kim, he needs to know how you feel...Why you wrote that letter."  
  
"Trini, it's not that easy. How am I supposed to tell him about everything?"  
  
"You open your mouth and tell him." Trini sighed. Kimberly groaned.  
  
"Wish it was that easy." She said.  
  
Tyrell and CJ sat in The Groove the next day working on the "marital issue" Mrs. Crawford had given them.  
  
"K, ready to open our issue envelope?" Tyrell asked.  
  
"Yeah, got it right now." She said. She grabbed the envelope and opened it, pulling the index card out. She read it aloud. "'We have been saving up money to go on a well deserved vacation. But one of us has taken the money and spent it on something frivolous like a new TV, how do we get through this?' Well, it's obvious you wasted the money." CJ said.  
  
"Huh? What? Why?" Tyrell said.  
  
"Oh please, it's always the man who waste the money on a big screen TV."  
  
"Hey!" Tyrell said defensively. CJ grinned, looking at him.  
  
"You mean to tell me you wouldn't take vacation money and get something stupid and shallow?" Tyrell grinned.  
  
"Well, depends, if it was a vacation in like some place stupid, hell yeah. If it was vacation at like Cancun, with gorgeous girls in bikinis...." He trailed off. CJ smacked him upside the head.  
  
"Genius, we're supposed to be married, how would it look if you're thinking about bikini wearing girls?"  
  
"Completely like a regular marriage?" Tyrell said, rubbing the back of his head. Suddenly Brad ran in.  
  
"GUYS!" He said. "You gotta help me!" He said franticly running to them. Their eyes widened.  
  
"What is it?" Tyrell asked.  
  
"Is it Zimoids?" CJ asked.  
  
"No, worse."  
  
"Moldara. Quor?"  
  
"No, worse!" Brad said.  
  
"Grasta herself?"  
  
"Worse!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"BRADLEY!" Came Val's voice from outside.  
  
"That!" Brad said. "I swear to God, if I have to hear one more sentence with 'ohmigod', 'like' and 'whatever' in it, my head will explode. You gotta help me!"  
  
"Bradley, where are you?" Val said, walking into the Groove. She saw CJ and Tyrell sitting at a table with their bags at their feet. She walked over. "Have either of you two seen Brad?" She asked.  
  
"Uh, nope." Tyrell said. CJ shook her head.  
  
"I think I saw him at the library." CJ said.  
  
"The library?" Val said, disgusted. "But......Nerds hang there." She shuddered. She sighed and left. A few seconds later CJ looked down, lifting her feet.  
  
"Coast is clear." She grinned. Brad climbed out from under the table.  
  
"Thanks so much." He said. "So, what's up?"  
  
"Nothing, just working on our little marital spat." Tyrell said.  
  
"Oh, Val and I were doing ours when I realized I might ask Mrs. Crawford for a divorce." Brad said. "Ours was, 'one of you wants to have children, unfortunately, the other, does not. How can you work this out?' Val made a disgusted face and complained about how a baby will make her 'all fat and disgusting'."  
  
"Oh you poor thing." CJ laughed, wrinkling up her nose. Brad looked at her. His mouth became dryer then cotton *God, she looks beautiful.* He thought.  
  
"Yeah..." He managed to say. He cleared his throat and looked at Tyrell. "What was yours?"  
  
"Oh," Tyrell said, taking the card from CJ. "'You have been saving up money to go on a well deserved vacation. But one of you has taken the money and spent it on something frivolous like a new TV, how do you get through this?'"  
  
"Oh." Brad said. "Well, that's easy, the one who made the mistake somehow convinces the other about the advantages of the TV, and treats them to a day of entire rest, relaxation, and servetude/slavery." Brad suggested. CJ smiled.  
  
"That actually can work. Thanks, Brad." She turned to Tyrell. "OK buddy, start trying to convince me the TV was a good idea." She grinned.  
  
Quinn watched CJ, Brad and Tyrell as Kendra worked on her floor routine. Kendra finished up and looked at her friend.  
  
"So, what do you think?" She asked. Quinn didn't answer. Kendra snapped her fingers in front of her friend's face. "Earth to Quinn, come in Quinn." Quinn looked at Kendra.  
  
"Huh? Oh, were you saying something?" She asked. Kendra sighed.  
  
"Yeah, I asked you what you think." She said.  
  
"Oh, well, They seem to be acting very friendly, don't you think?" Quinn asked. Kendra looked at her blankly. "Oh.....That's not what you're talking about, is it?" Quinn asked. Kendra shook her head.  
  
"I was talking about my routine. But, you've got me interested now. Who is acting friendly?"  
  
"Oh.......No one." Quinn said. She sighed. "Do you think Tyrell and CJ like eachother?" She asked softly. Kendra cocked her head to the side and looked at her brother chatting with CJ.  
  
"I don't think so. I mean, we have that assignment from our social sciences class. Cooper was asking her to be his partner, and you know how CJ feels about him, utter hatred, so she just looked for a guy to be her partner, and she saw Ty." Kendra said. She looked at Quinn. "Why?" Suddenly a thought struck her. A smile that went ear to ear came to her face. "You like Tyrell, don't you?" Quinn's eyes widened. She forced a scoff.  
  
"What? No...Of course not."  
  
"You do!" Kendra said. "Oh my God, I can't believe it!" She grinned. "It's so perfect, my best friend, and my brother. It's beautiful!" Quinn pulled Kendra close.  
  
"Can you keep it down, I don't need the entire world hearing." She said. She sighed. "And don't start planning the wedding, I mean, Tyrell doesn't even like me like that." Kendra looked at her.  
  
"What makes you think that?"  
  
"Oh please, look at him. He flirts with anything female, except me or you. You are his sister, him flirting with you would be just creepy. And me? I'm just his friend, Quinn. Comfortable, one of the guys, Quinn." Kendra looked at her and sighed.  
  
"And plus, with a bigger screen, you can see those little chick flicks you like so much so much better, sweetie." Tyrell said, finalizing the list of reasons why the TV was good. CJ seemed thoughtful.  
  
"Hmm, you do have a point. But, I hate 'chick flicks'. Gimmie a good horror or kick butt movie over some fluffy duffy romance anyday." CJ said.  
  
"Are you serious?" Brad asked. CJ looked at him and smiled.  
  
"Oh yeah. I mean, guys think that just cause I'm a girl my favorite movie is like Waiting to Exhale or Steel Magnolias. Guys can't seem to grasp the fact that those movies make me want to ralph." She grinned.  
  
"Hey, taking girls to those movies usually gets me a serious make out session at the end of the night." Tyrell shrugged. CJ ignored him.  
  
"Have you seen that Dungeons and Dragon's movie?" Brad asked CJ.  
  
"Are you kidding? I love that movie." CJ smiled. Tyrell looked at them.  
  
"Now, that movie I like. That lil warrior elf chick was one foxy lady." He grinned. Yet again he was ignored.  
  
"The part were Domidor killed Snails was like the first time I cried at a movie." CJ said. "I mean, Snails was great, and he died so nobly." She said.  
  
"I know what you mean. And then the part where Writly was all whailn' on Domidor? How classic was that?" Brad smiled. Tyrell quietly excused himself from the table. He walked over to Quinn and Kendra.  
  
"Hey." He said.  
  
"Hey." Quinn said.  
  
"How's the married couple doing?" Kendra said jokingly.  
  
"Ah, I really think CJ and Brad would've been better. I mean she loved his idea to solving our problem, and now those two are talking about movies. I decided to leave them alone to discuss the greatness of sci fi characters." He said. He looked at the two. "So, what's up?" He asked.  
  
"Nothing." They said at the same time. Tyrell looked at them.  
  
"Riiiiight...." He said.  
  
CJ laughed with Brad.  
  
"God, I wish I was partnered with you, instead of Val." Brad said. He stopped, not meaning to say that. CJ didn't seem to notice.  
  
"I know. I think anyone would rather work with a rabid dog instead of Val." CJ laughed. "Although, what is the difference?" Brad laughed.  
  
"Rabid dogs are nicer?" Brad suggested.  
  
"Exactly." CJ smiled. She looked around, suddenly realizing Tyrell wasn't sitting with them anymore. "Where'd he go?" She asked. Brad looked over and saw Tyrell talking to Kendra and Quinn.  
  
"I'm guessing we lost him when we started talking about sci-fi and such." He said. CJ looked over at Tyrell. She laughed.  
  
"Oh well."  
  
Kimberly stood outside of Tommy's dojo. The place looked like a reck after the "earthquake". It looked empty. She took a deep breath and opened the door and walked in. This had been the first time she had gone into the dojo. She looked around and saw pictures of Tommy winning karate championships. She even saw a picture of Tommy and Jason. She smiled gently, remembering the old times, when everything wasn't so complicated.  
  
"What?" Came a voice, startling Kimberly out of her state of nostalgia. "But it's not like I made the damn earthquake. But how am I......Yeah........Fine........Fine! Thanks for nothing." Kimberly heard the sound of a phone being slammed down. She peered around the corner and saw Tommy sitting in the far corner. He had just gotten off the phone. His back was to her and he was tiredly rubbing his temples. Kimberly decided perhaps now wasn't a great time to talk to him. She slowly and quietly turned around and headed for the door. "You made the trip down here, might as well stay." Came Tommy's voice. Kimberly turned to him.  
  
"You saw me?" She asked. Tommy turned to her.  
  
"I know you, Kim, I can sense you." He said, looking into her eyes. Kimberly nervously looked away.  
  
"Is, Uh, everything OK?" She asked. Tommy sighed.  
  
"No. My cousin who's in construction checked out the dojo the other day and he just gave me a call saying that it'll take forever to fix this place up." He groaned. "I put so much into this, and now, I'm about to lose everything, all because of the 'earthquake,' ya know, this is helping me with the whole wanting to put an end to Grasta and her minions thing." Tommy said.  
  
"God, Tommy, I'm so sorry." Kimberly said. "I know how much teaching karate has meant to you." She said, remembering seeing how much joy he'd get in teaching kids at the Youth Center years ago.  
  
"Yeah." He said.  
  
Grasta sat watching the two.  
  
"Ha!" She said. "Does he think he can destroy me? The poor fool. Perhaps a little reminder of my power is in order." She grinned to herself. "Lonf." She bellowed.  
  
"Yes, mistress?" He asked.  
  
"I want you to make me a monster for our little friends."  
  
"What kind of monster?" He asked.  
  
"Oh, I trust that you can think of something nasty and evil." She said.  
  
"Well, there is that one-"  
  
"Perfect." She said. "Now, send some Zimoids for little Tommy and Kimberly."  
  
"Well, I'm sure everything will be OK." Kimberly said, trying to make him feel better. Tommy smiled and walked over to her.  
  
"Same old Kim, the glass is half full, even if it's really about to be empty." He said softly. Kimberly gulped and looked up into Tommy's chocolate brown eyes.  
  
"Rig...Right." She said. There was a long silence as the two looked into each other's eyes.  
  
"Kimberly." He whispered. He drew closer to her, cupping the side of her face with his hand. He lowered her face to hers, and was about to kiss her when suddenly Zimoids appeared. The two broke apart quickly.  
  
"What the heck are they doing here?" Kimberly said, her voice cracking a bit from the moment she had just had with Tommy.  
  
"Don't know, but they're so dead." Tommy growled. He was about to kiss Kimberly. Kimberly. Something he hadn't done in ten years, and had been wanting to do just as long. And the Zimoids ruined the moment. Now he was pissed. He and Kimberly went and began attacking the Zims. They split them up, each attacking half of them. One of the Zims got the jump on Kim, knocking her down, causing her to hit her head on one of the pieces of the ceiling which had fallen from the earthquake. "Kim!" Tommy yelled. The Zimoids disapeared. Tommy went to Kimberly's side and lifted her head up gently. "Kim?" He said. Kimberly's eyes drifted open. "Are you all right?" He asked. Kimberly nodded. Tommy helped her up to a sitting position.  
  
Tyrell, Quinn and Kendra stood in the Groove talking about some music they had heard, or tv shows, while CJ and Brad continued talking about movies. Brad's communicator went off. He looked over at CJ. The two cast looks over at the other three, indicating the communicator had sounded. The five of them went to a desserted part of The Groove.  
  
"What's up?" Brad said.  
  
"Kimberly and Tommy where attacked at the dojo, come to the station immediately." They all nodded and teleported to the zega station.  
  
The five teens appeared and saw Tommy, Kimberly, Trini and Billy waiting for them. Kimberly was sitting on a chair, rubbing her head. CJ went over to her aunt.  
  
"Are you ok?" She asked, concern filling her voice. Kimberly nodded.  
  
"Mmhmm. I'm just going to have a bump the size of China, but other then that, right as rain."  
  
"What happened?" Quinn asked.  
  
"Dunno." Tommy said. "They just appeared out of nowhere."  
  
"This all sounds familiar." Trini remarked. Billy looked at her and nodded.  
  
"She's right. In the past, all attacks where always linked to something bigger. We all better be on our toes."  
  
"Until anything comes up, Kimberly, you should go home and rest." Alda said.  
  
"I'll take her home." Tommy said, helping Kimberly to her feet. CJ looked at him.  
  
"It's ok." She said. "I'm going to head home myself, I'll do it." She said. Tommy looked at her. Part of him wanted to hold on to Kimberly and take her home, but, the other part of him realized how that might've looked. He nodded.  
  
"Right." He said. CJ took her aunt from him. The two vanished in flashes of blue and purple.  
  
CJ helped Kimberly onto her bed. She went to the bathroom and came back with a bottle of Aspirin and a glass of water.  
  
"You need anything else?" She asked. Kimberly shook her head. She took two pills and sipped the water.  
  
"Nah, I'll be fine." She said. She looked at CJ. "You really weren't coming home, were you?" She asked. CJ smiled.  
  
"No, but I saw that look you got when Tommy said he'd take you home. It looked like a deer in headlights...Well, after the deer got conked on the head." Kimberly laughed dryly.  
  
"Deer...funny." She muttered. "Thanks." She said.  
  
"No problem." CJ said. She took a deep breath and sat down next to Kimberly. "Listen, I haven't said anything before, because I just didn't know the right time to bring it up..But, I know." Kimberly looked at her.  
  
"Know?" She asked. CJ looked at her.  
  
"About what happened...About two years ago." CJ let her voice trail off. Kimberly looked down.  
  
"Your mom told you?" She asked. CJ nodded.  
  
"When I started dating that..George guy.." CJ breezed over his name, not wanting to dwell on the memories attached to his name. ".Mom got like all upset and got into this big speech about limits and everything. She used both you and her as examples." Kimberly looked at her, a little shocked.  
  
"CJ, you know what happened to me is totally different-" CJ waved her hand dismisivly.  
  
"It's OK. I mean, I did get a little ticked at her after that, but, after a while I kind of understood what she meant." CJ looked at her. "Anyway, what I'm getting at is that if that's why you're afraid to be near Tommy, don't be. I mean, you don't have to tell him if you don't want to. And anyway, don't feel ashamed and everything about it. It wasn-"  
  
"CJ, I am not afraid to be in the same room with him." Kimberly said.  
  
"Deer in headlights." CJ pointed out. Kimberly sighed.  
  
"Fine, maybe I am, just a little. But, that's not why..Or at least not all of the reason. It's complicated." CJ nodded, understandingly.  
  
"OK, well, I've got to go, I'm supposed to be working on that social sciences thing with Ty." She looked at her aunt. "Well, I mean, I can stay if you want. I can just tell Ty I'm feeling a little tired or-"  
  
"No, no, I'm fine. I'm probably just going to nap for a while anyway." Kimberly said. CJ stood up.  
  
"All right, call my cell if you need me." She said as she left.  
  
Trini walked up to Nate's door. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door. She waited for a while. The door opened. Nate stood there. He looked at her, obviously still a little upset about their argument.  
  
"Hey." Trini said.  
  
"Hey." He replied, his tone holding no emotion. "You need something, or are you just here to rag on my acting a bit more?" He asked. Trini sighed.  
  
"Nate, I wasn't ragging." She said.  
  
"Well, how is 'are you sure you are ready for stage acting? I mean, you've only done commercials and extra roles in movies so far. It can be too much' supposed to be encouraging?" He asked.  
  
"I'm sorry, but I was just being honest. I mean, stage acting is a big step, and Rent? Come on, that's huge. I just don't want you to see some horrible critic's review and get heartbroken."  
  
"And you're just so positive that a critic will loath my performance."  
  
"That's not what I'm saying." Trini said. "I'm just worried that your hubris and over confidence is making you forget that-"  
  
"Oh, so now I'm a horrible actor and egotistical?" Nate said, interrupting her. Trini sighed in frustration at him putting words in her mouth.  
  
"Not so sure about the bad actor part, but at the moment, you're not too wrong about the egotistical part." She muttered. Nate glared at her.  
  
"You really suck at apologies." He said. "I've got some calls to make about getting an apartment in The Big Apple. I'll see you later." He went to close the door. Trini groaned and stopped him.  
  
"Wait, wait." She said. Nate looked at her. "Look, I'm sorry, OK?" She said. "I'm just trying to get you to see both possibilities in this whole thing. I'm not saying you're a horrible actor, or that critics are going to loathe your performance. I'm just trying to make sure that IF they do, you're not totally crushed by it. I mean, you are a good actor. Why else would you be cast as a major role in a huge Broadway musical, right?" Nate's face softened slightly. He sighed.  
  
"Right. I'm sorry." He said. "I shouldn't have snapped at you like that." He looked at her. "I guess this whole getting cast in a major thing like this and moving across the country is getting to me." Trini smiled and got closer to him.  
  
"It's all right, I forgive you for being a bonehead." She smiled as she gave him a peck on the lips. Nate chuckled.  
  
"Oh gee, thanks." He said.  
  
"Do you have to make those calls right now?" Trini asked.  
  
"Nah, they can wait. Why?" He asked.  
  
"We can go take a walk or something." She suggested. Nate smiled.  
  
"All right."  
  
Grasta looked at Lonf.  
  
"Is that monster of yours ready yet?" She asked. Lonf nodded.  
  
"Yes mistress, I present to you, Madame Playbill." He said as a creature in silver and gold armor walked in. She had two faces, one looked like a mask with a smiling face, the other a mask looking like a sad face, the sign of comedies and tragedies. "I was a little inspired by the recent events in the Orange Ranger's relationship." Lonf admitted. Grasta looked at him.  
  
"You want a medal for that?" She asked icily. Lonf looked down.  
  
"Sorry, mistress."  
  
"Well, what can you do?" Grasta said, looking at the creature.  
  
"Madam, I can take whoever you so desire and suck them into my own dimension." Grasta looked at her.  
  
"And..?" She asked.  
  
"The dimension is a play, Madam, and those who are captured are forced to act out the events of it." Grasta looked at Lonf.  
  
"That the best you could do?" She asked. Lonf kept his head down. Grasta sighed. "Well, I guess it's better then nothing."  
  
Nate and Trini walked along the park hand in hand.  
  
"Listen, I was wondering," Nate said after being somewhat silent for a while. He looked at Trini. "Why don't you come to New York with me?" He asked. Trini froze and looked at him.  
  
"What?" She asked.  
  
"Come to New York with me." He said. Trini blinked.  
  
"You're serious?" She asked, still pretty shocked.  
  
"Of course." He said.  
  
"Nate, I can't." She said.  
  
"What do you mean?" He asked. "Sure you can." Trini sighed.  
  
"Nate, my job's here."  
  
"Trini, you work in a little bookstore. Not exactly the career of a lifetime." Nate said, rolling his eyes.  
  
"It's not name in lights, sure, but I like it." Trini said, somewhat offended by his remark.  
  
"Well, there's plenty of bookstores in New York. Actual chains of them, like Barnes and Nobles."  
  
"Well, I'm happy here." Trini said in a somewhat icy tone. "My job's here, my friends are here, my life is here, so, basically, here is where I'm staying."  
  
"You'll get a new job, you'll make new friends, and, baby, it's not like your life begins and ends with Angel Grove."  
  
"Did I say it does?" Trini asked. "You act like I've never set foot outside this city. I have. I've traveled pretty much all over the world, and I like it here, in Angel Grove." Nate looked at her. He narrowed his eyes slightly.  
  
"This is all because of that Billy guy, isn't it?" He asked. Trini looked at him.  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"You want to stay because of him." He said. Trini sighed and crossed her arms, beginning to get irritated.  
  
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do." Nate's jaw hung open. Trini ignored it and continued. "I want to stay because of him, Kimberly, Tommy, and all my other friends here. Didn't know that was a horrible thing."  
  
"You know what I meant, stop being coy." Nate said. Trini rolled her eyes.  
  
"What do you mean, Nathan? Are you implying that I'm cheating on you? Is that it?"  
  
"Well, you haven't given me much reason to not assume so."  
  
"Oh, so just because I'm not packing my things and getting ready to go to New York with you, I must be cheating? My god, I was wrong, you are egotistical."  
  
"Well, what about before? I told you I love you and you didn't say anything." Nate pointed out. Trini opened her mouth to reply but was cut off.  
  
"Oh, drama, tension, conflict, the aspects of a great tragedy." Came a voice. Trini and Nate looked over from where it came from. There stood a monster. Trini silently groaned. **Oh, wonderful** She thought. **Grasta has just the best timing, doesn't she?**  
  
"What the heck is that?" Nate exclaimed.  
  
"Oh, forgive me." The monster said. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Madame Playbill." She said, giving a bow. "And I'm here to gather players for my show." With that, she pulled out a huge book that looked like a script. She opened it.  
  
"Trini, look out!" Nate yelled as a dark beam of light and gust of wind came from the book. Nate shoved Trini away. Trini rolled onto the grass and looked up to see Madam Playbill suck Nate into her book. Trini gasped.  
  
"Nate!" She yelled. Madam Playbill looked at Trini and giggled.  
  
"Don't worry dear, you'll join him soon!" She said.  
  
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